HOUSTON (Saturday, March 15, 2025) – Real Salt Lake (2-2-0, 6 points, 8th West MLS) banished the painful memories of its recent history in Houston with a hard-fought 2-1 victory against the Dynamo away at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night.
Midfielder Diogo Gonçalves delightfully opened the scoring for RSL only 43 seconds into the contest, while USMNT starlet Diego Luna restored the Claret-and Cobalt lead just prior to the stroke of halftime with his first goal of the MLS season, a ferocious header from the middle of the penalty area, to help RSL record its first away victory in South Texas since August, 2018, and just its fourth in 21 years (4W-14L-6T all-time).
For Saturday night’s contest, Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni made a total of three changes to his side from the team’s previous outing at home against San Diego, with defenders Bode Hidalgo, Brayan Vera, and Sam Junqua all being handed their first MLS starts of the season.
In search of a rebound from the previous weekend’s home defeat, RSL got off to the perfect start with the opening goal less than 60 full seconds after the initial whistle, when Captain Emeka Eneli squared the ball across to teammate Gonçalves in the area, the RSL DP planting a first-time finish past Houston GK Andrew Tarbell and to round off an impressive team passing sequence, RSL’s sixth-ever score inside the first minute of play.
The advantage would be short-lived, however, as the hosts found a response only 15 minutes later, with striker Ezequiel Ponce finishing the header, latching on to an outswinging cross from a freekick towards the backpost, past Rafael Cabralto restore parity in the contest.
In a hotly-contested affair, RSL then managed to retake the lead right on the cusp of halftime, when midfielder Luna ghosted into the box before applying a strong header, to divert a driven far-post shot from teammate Dominik Marczuk, towards the goalkeeper’s near post and into the net for what would prove to be the visitor’s winning goal.
The victory marks RSL’s first triumph in Houston against the Dynamo in the teams’ last 10 meetings across all competitions since 2023, as well as RSL’s first road win in Houston since August 2018, also a span of 10 games played here..
Next up for RSL is a home clash against former fan favorite Anderson Julio and FC Dallas at America First Field on Saturday, March 22. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 PM MT, with tickets available here.
RSL 2 : 1 HOU
GOALSCORING SUMMARY
RSL: Diogo Gonçalves (Emeka Eneli) 1’: A goal off an early quick transition. Less than 60 seconds in, a turnover in the RSL half allowed the team break forward quickly, with Diego Luna, Ari Piol, and Emeka Eneli all combining in the buildup before Luna found the run of Eneli, with a through pass into the left-hand side of the penalty box, who subsequently squared the ball across for Diogo Gonçalves in the middle to finish first time past Andrew Tarbell.
HOU: Ezequiel Ponce (Jack McGlynn) 16’: Midfielder Jack McGlynn delivered an outswinging cross, from a freekick from the left-hand side outside the penalty box, towards the back post where teammate Ezequiel Ponce was waiting and rose highest above everyone else to hammer a header past Rafael Cabral and in to draw both sides level.
RSL: Diego Luna (Dominik Marczuk) 45’+5’: Winger Dominik Marczuk received the ball on the wide right-hand side just outside the penalty area, before cutting into the area onto his left and unleashing a powerful effort towards the far post which flew straight into the head of Diego Luna, arriving in the middle and applying a bullet header, and diverted towards the goalkeeper’s near side and into the net for an RSL lead again on the night.
NOTES FROM RSL 2 : 1 HOU
- Midfielder Diogo Gonçalves’s goal after just 43 seconds represents the fourth-fastest goal scored in RSL’s 21-year history, coming only after Javier Morales, Corey Baird, and Matias Mantilla’s previous earlier strikes, which arrived at 15, 34, and 40 seconds, respectively. Damir Kreilach and Matt Crooks round off the top six with goals at 44 and 45 seconds.
- Saturday’s result marks RSL’s first win away against the Houston Dynamo in seven years. The Claret-and-Cobalt’s last victory in Houston arrived in a late, come-from-behind 2-1 win courtesy of a brace from former captain Albert Rusnak in August 2018.
- Midfielders Diego Luna and Diogo Gonçalves each netted their first goals of the new campaign on the night, and the first of the club’s goals scored this season by players besides Forster Ajago and Ariath Piol.
- RSL has seen 145 games now managed by HC Pablo Mastroeni since August, 2021, dropping back-to-back results just 11 times in that span.
- RSL now has 36 wins and 12 draws when scoring first in the Mastroeni era, against just six total losses, including two earlier this year (Herediano at home and San Diego last week).
LINEUPS
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Rafael Cabral; Bode Hidalgo, Justen Glad, Brayan Vera, Sam Junqua; Emeka Eneli ©, Braian Ojeda (Nelson Palacio, 68’); Dominik Marczuk (Tyler Wolff, 57’), Diogo Gonçalves, Diego Luna (Pablo Ruiz, 79’); Ari Piol (Forster Ajago, 68’)
Subs not used: Lachlan Brook, Mason Stajduhar, Javain Brown, Philip Quinton, Alex Katranis
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
Houston Dynamo FC (4-3-3): Andrew Tarbell (Jimmy Maurer, 37’); Franco Escobar (Daniel Steres, 81’), Obafemi Fela Awodesu, Ethan Andrew Bartlow, Griffin Dorsey; Nicolás Lodeiro (Erik Dueñas, 75’) José Artur de Lima Junior ©, Jack McGlynn; Amine Bassi, Ezequiel Ponce, Sebastian Kowalczyk (Gabriel Segal, 81’)
Subs not used: Ibrahim Aliyu, Michael Halliday, Júnior Urso, Exon Saturnino Arzú Suazo, Brooklyn Raines
Head Coach: Ben Olsen
Stats Summary: RSL / HOU
Shots: 10 / 18
Shots on Goal: 5 / 2
Saves: 1 / 3
Corner Kicks: 6 / 9
Fouls: 13 / 10
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
HOU: Franco Escobar (Yellow card - 45’+5’)
RSL: Bode Hidalgo (Yellow card - 45’+8’)
HOU: Ethan Bartlow (Yellow card - 58’)
HOU: Ezequiel Ponce (Yellow card - 90’+2’)
