HERRIMAN, Utah (Fri., Sept. 13, 2024) – Real Salt Lake (13-6-8, 47 points, 3rd West MLS) resumes its 2024 Major League Soccer slate Saturday night in South Texas against newfound nemesis Houston Dynamo (11-8-8, 41 points, 7thWest), the first of three games in eight days from Sept. 14-21, and the lone road trip of the three. While RSL has not won in Houston since the 2018 season, defeating the Dynamo in just three of the last 13 meetings across all competitions, a full three points captured Saturday would all but clinch an MLS Cup Playoff spot for the 14th time in the last 17 seasons, and for the fourth consecutive year under the guidance of Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni.
RSL remains in the thick of the Western Conference top-seed race, with the Claret-and-Cobalt hosting two of its next three matches and four of the final six overall on Utah soil, where the Claret-and-Cobalt have excelled this season. Kickoff Saturday at Shell Energy Stadium is at 6:30p MT in Houston, with the match available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, as Nate Bukaty & Devon Kerr (ENG) provide the call, as will Pablo Ramirez and Jesus Bracamontes (SPN).
RSL could exact a modicum of revenge on the Dynamo with three points Saturday, as Houston has ended three different competitions for this team in 2023/24. RSL fell 1-3 at Houston in last year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal in a 120-minute affair, before being ousted from the first round of the 2023 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in a three-game series that saw the final two legs decided by penalty kicks. On August 5 of this year, RSL fell 0-3 at Houston to suffer elimination from the 2024 Leagues Cup, when nearly any other result would have seen the Utah side win its group, which also included Atlas FC (Liga MX).
Earlier this year, RSL registered a 3-2 come-from-behind home win on July 3 against Houston to snap the recent drought; prior to last year’s reg. season loss, RSL went unbeaten against Houston in 11 consecutive games dating back to 2017, including five straight in South Texas. All-time, RSL owns a 3W-13L-6T record in Houston, with the Dynamo enjoying a +13 goal differential across all competitions.
Real Salt Lake @ Houston Dynamo – MLS Matchday 32
Shell Energy Stadium – Houston, TX
Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024 – 6:30p MT
Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass / KSL Sports Zone Radio
Game Notes for Saturday’s RSL @ Houston Match Available Online
The Adobe PDF version of the 2024 RSL Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Houston can be found HERE. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact RSL Communications via email at RSLcommunications@RSL.com.
Last Match Recap:
RSL last played back on Sat., Aug. 31 at home, a 2-0 victory over the visiting New England Revolution … FW Anderson Julio (45+3’) and DF Philip Quinton (56’) provided the goals in support of teenage GK Gavin Beavers, who improved his 2024 record in MLS action to 5W-2L-1T with three clean sheets this year …
Despite a shocking loss on Aug. 24 to San Jose, the Utah side’s record on home soil this year is now 10-3-1 / 31 pointsacross all competitions, with RSL welcoming both Dallas and Portland to the Wasatch Front on Sept. 18 and 21. Four RSL players made their Club debuts in the recent two-game homestand coming out of the summer transfer window, with last Saturday’s 2-0 win to over the Revolution coming in front of yet another standing-room only crowd of 20,475 at America First Field, which has seen RSL produce eight consecutive sellouts and 11 in 14 home games this season.
First-team Roster Now Set for Playoff Push:
Prior to the San Jose loss on August 24, RSL completed the most active summer transfer window in the team’s 20-year history, with five new players arriving on the Wasatch Front: FW Benji Michel, DF Javain Brown, M/F Lachlan Brook, MF Diogo Gonçalves and FW Dominik Marczuk. Three of the four signings – Portuguese Designated Player Gonçalves, former Vancouver centerback Brown and Australian youth international Brook – each made their RSL and/or MLS debuts in that 0-2 home loss to the ‘Quakes …
Due to P-1 visa acquisition process, Polish youth international Marczuk donned the Claret-and-Cobalt for the first time a week later on Sat., August 31, at home against the New England Revolution, becoming the 12th player to debut this year and the 216th all-time … RSL set new Club-record transfers twice in six weeks this summer, selling MF Fidel Barajas (sold to Chivas Guadalajara in LIGA MX for $4 million) and FW Andrés Gómez (sold to Stade Rennais in French Ligue 1 for nearly $13 million with bonuses) …
Several new outgoing loan deals were recently executed for young RSL players, as rookie MF Matthew Bell was sent to Tulsa (USL), second-year FW Bertin Jacquesson went to Pittsburgh (USL) and homegrown MF Jude Wellings went to FC Pinzgau Saalfelden (Austrian Third Division) … RSL also recently said goodbye to DF Bryan Oviedo (waived) …
Yet Another Bounceback Response Registered During Mastroeni Era ::
RSL’s 2-0 win over New England saw the Club rebound from back-to-back scoreless losses, including the 0-3 loss at Houston on August 5 and the August 24 0-2 loss to San Jose … The resilience, response and determination of RSL’s collective DNA during the Pablo Mastroeni era – also known as the “xDAWG” mentality – was on full display in that August 1, 2-1 come-from-behind home win for RSL against Atlas, following a 12-day break after the disappointing Rocky Mountain Cup loss on July 20 in Colorado … During 130 games coached by Mastroeni since taking the Claret-and-Cobalt reins in late August, 2021, RSL has dropped back-to-back matches now just 10 times overall – with four of those 10 occurring last August, following the season-ending, non-contact knee injury suffered by metronomic playmaker Pablo Ruiz in mid-August at LAFC in the Leagues Cup Round of 32 match …
In those 130 games coached by Pablo since late August, 2021, matches following a loss has seen RSL bounce-back successfully and respond with 22 wins and 13 draws against just 10 losses, avoiding long droughts and not letting losing streaks fester … Mastroeni’s all-time RSL record across all competitions is now 54W-45L-31T mark in MLS reg. season, MLS Cup Playoff, Leagues Cup, Open Cup and int’l friendly matches, guiding the Club to the 2021 MLS Western Conference Final and the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal …
MLS Golden Boot Contender Chicho Arango Expected to Return This Week ::
That August 1 Atlas FC home match represented the fourth and final match with MLS suspension imposed on RSL Captain, Colombian striker and MLS Golden Boot leader Chicho Arango, who also missed the 1-1 July 17 RSL draw at LAFC, the 2-3 loss at Colorado on July 20, the July 24 MLS All-Star Game against the Liga MX All-Stars …
Chicho – no longer the League’s Golden Boot leader, now one back of D.C. United’s Christian Benteke and one ahead of LAFC man Denis Bouanga despite the Colombian’s scoring drought July 13 - present – did play the final 45 minutes of an 0-3 loss at Houston in RSL’s second Leagues Cup group stage match …
On August 24, Chicho started for RSL, but pulled himself out just a few minutes shy of halftime, feeling tightness in his right hamstring and taking extraordinary caution … Chicho missed the August 31 win, however, and is expected to be a full strength when RSL resumes MLS action this weekend in Houston …
Should Chicho start or come off the bench, it would mark the first time that the potentially dangerous attacking triumvirate of Chicho, Diego Luna and Diogo Gonçalves would see the field together …
Home-heavy MLS Schedule Finishes out 2024 Campaign ::
With the sun now set on the 2024 Leagues Cup tournament and coming out of the FIFA international break, RSL plays four of its final seven MLS contests at home, where the Claret-and-Cobalt boast 9 wins and 1 draw against just 3 losses in league action this season, in addition to a 10th home win over Atlas FC … Next week’s home matches against Dallas and Portland are the first two of four remaining RSL home games this season …
Following break, RSL’s September run is bookended by a pair of Texas road trips to Houston (Saturday, Sept. 14) and Austin (Sat., Sept. 28), on either side of home games against Dallas and Portland on Sept. 18/21 … RSL welcomes Minnesota on Wed., Oct. 2 and Vancouver on the Oct. 19 Decision Day, with a Sat., Oct. 5 road trip to the Bay Area prior to another FIFA international window the weekend of Oct. 12 …
During the Pablo Mastroeni era – qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the three previous seasons – RSL has endured a rollercoaster ride in the final 10 games of each season … Time now to nip the 1W-2L-0 record from July 20 / August 24 MLS contests in the bud …
Back in 2021, RSL split its 10 games under Pablo, winning five and dropping five, securing a dramatic Decision Day win at Kansas City to qualify for the postseason, eventually progressing to the West Final and suffering elimination at Portland …
In 2022, RSL posted a 3-3-4 / 13-point finish, suffering unexpected home draws / losses but delivering yet another Decision Day win, this time a dominant 3-1 home victory over Portland … That year’s RSL side burst out to a 2-0 lead at Austin courtesy an early Sergio Cordova brace in a first-round MLS Cup Playoff match, but a 53rd-minute Rubio Rubinejection ended up with RSL falling in PKs after 120 minutes …
Last season, RSL went 4-5-1 / 13 points in its final 10 matches, as it learned how to play without injured metronome Pablo Ruiz following his non-contact Leagues Cup Round of 16 injury at LAFC … RSL did win three of its final five last year, including its lone win at LAFC on a late Chicho Arango goal, and a 1-0 Decision Day victory at Colorado, one that saw Diego Luna emerge and announce his presence with authority, scoring four goals in his final five matches of 2023, including the three-game series with Houston, which again saw RSL eliminated by the narrowest of margins, as both games two and three of the first-round series were decided by PKs …
Palacio Blast Latest in String of Long-range RSL Heroics ::
RSL MF Nelson Palacio’s scintillating, game-winning ZAPATAZO August 1 from deep – 38 yards out, 78.1 mph (according to Sportrac) – marks the latest in a string of long-range RSL heroics, with Captain Chicho Arango scoring from midfield back on June 1 in a 5-1 home win against Austin as part of his hat trick that day, while MF Pablo Ruiz saw his 68-yard offering at Audi Field in Washington D.C. last summer a finalist for the 2023 MLS Goal of the Year … RSL’s Sandy, Utah-based venue might not be a desired place in the future for Mexican power Atlas FC, the Rojinegros also playing at the venue now known as America First Field back in October, 2022, as part of that year’s “Leagues Cup Showcase” match … Despite RSL falling at home, 1-2, that midweek October night, the game will be remembered for former RSL Homegrown Aaron Herrera’s long-range goal – a 78-yard bombazo – that gave the home side the lead …
