RSL Defeats Houston 3-2 Before Electric Home Crowd

SANDY, Utah (Wed., July 3, 2024) – Real Salt Lake (11-3-7 / 40 points / T-1^st West) returned to its winning ways with an electric 3-2 victory over familiar foe Houston Dynamo before 21,522 at America First Field, the third-highest attendance in the venue’s 15-year history. Elite MF Braian Ojeda’s first career MLS/RSL goal provided the game-winner on an assist from FW Andrés Gómez, whose goal and two assists see him ascend into the top 10 in both 2024 MLS.

Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s side, fresh off its second bye week of the season, conceded just eight minutes into the contest. The play started as a long pass from the Houston defense made it through a packed midfield and rolled onto the stride of Sebastian Kowalczyk down the left wing. While awaiting the underlapping run of Ibrahim Aliya into the box, he played an off-speed pass to Aliyu as he held off a marker and connected with a curling right-footed strike past the outstretched glove of RSL GK Zac MacMath and into the side netting.

Feeding off the standing-room only energy of the crowd, RSL roared back and nearly equalized in the 19th minute. As Houston built up through the midfield, midfielder Matt Crooks used his 6’6’’ frame to overpower the ball carrier and feed it to Captain Chicho Arango for a lightning-quick counter attack. Arango raced upfield and laid it off to Gómez, whistling down the right wing, his Colombian compatriot drawing two defenders before creating distance with a nasty fake shot and playing it back to Arango atop of the box. Winding up and ripping the one-time shot with his preferred right foot, Arango’s strike beat the goalkeeper but glanced off the crossbar and out of play.

Not to be denied, RSL turned its momentum into a 1-1 scoreline with a 22nd minute equalizer, Gómez collecting his 11th goal of 2024 (T-8 in MLS). In seemingly pedestrian run of play, DF Bode Hidalgo stepped up from the defensive line to head a ball forward through the midfield. As the pair of Houston center backs attempted to let it roll between them and into the box for their goalkeeper to collect, Gómez had other plans, flying at the ball as the ‘keeper desperately rushed out. Gómez would win the race though, splitting the defenders and beating Steve Clark to the ball by a millisecond to clinically tap it into the back of the net, allowing Hidalgo to record his first assist of the year.

RSL turned up the heat again in the 42nd minute, creating an attack as a give-and-go with Gómez sent Crooks into the attacking third with green grass ahead of him. Consuming space in the middle, he switched play to the left corner of the box for playmaker Diego Luna as he stood over the ball with aggressive intentions. Cutting inside, Luna beat a charging defender with a clever feint before taking one extra touch inside, then launching a shot at the far post with his right foot, the pure connection curling the ball around the keeper and into the net with sizzling pace. Luna’s fourth goal of the year and Crooks’ fifth assist gave RSL the halftime lead.

Despite the early setback, RSL hit the locker room with a 2-1 lead supported by a commanding advantage in shots, shots on target, passing accuracy and expected goals. RSL came out with intensity for the second 45, nearly bagging a third goal less than two minutes into the action. Moving quickly on the counter, a clever pass from Luna sent Arango into the box, firing a shot at the near post that was saved towards the end line. With Clark rushing out to collect the ball, Arango collected himself and beat him to the ball, setting up Gómez for a wide-open shot with the ‘keeper out of position. What seemed like a sure goal, Gómez’s shot was somehow kept out by a heroic, diving goal-line clearance by Houston DF Griffin Dorsey.

Despite the early Claret-and-Cobalt chances, Houston struck first in the second half, La Naranja equalizing in the 55th minute. Winning it back in the RSL third, Kowalczyk fed the ball to Captain Héctor Herrera out on the left wing. Stopping it at his feet and waiting for the run of his teammates in the box, Herrera whipped a curling cross to the back post. The ball, untouched by anyone in an orange jersey, took a slight deflection off Andrew Brody, changing course just enough to sneak past MacMath and into the net.

Just minutes after his Emeka Eneli came forward and nearly reclaimed the lead for RSL, midfielder Ojeda scored the first goal of his MLS career in the 67th minute to put his squad back in front. As Chicho Arango wrangled the ball on the right side of the midfield, he picked his head up and, noticing a 3-on-4 opportunity, ran directly at the Houston defense. Getting them on their heels, Chicho laid it off to the right side of the box for Gómez and darted inside to receive the return ball. As Gómez centered it to the feet of Arango at point-blank range, Arango slipped, allowing the ball to filter through to an unmarked Ojeda in the center of the box. Showing both his composure and technique, Ojeda took a touch and calmly deposited a perfect shot into the open space at Clark’s far post.

With the home crowd of 21,522 standing and shouting, RSL nearly put the game out of reach with another lightning-quick counter in the 82nd. As an RSL clearance found its way to the feet of Gómez on the right side of the midfield, he tapped forward to Arango, who immediately spotted the central run of Luna in the channel and played a long, floating through ball over the top. Noticing the numbers advantage, Luna beat his man to track down the ball and cleverly took it wide to drag his marker out of position. With the only Houston defender out of the picture, Luna passed to Crooks in the center for the breakaway one-on-one with the ‘keeper, but the goal was prevented as Clark came strongly off his line to get a piece of the shot. Then, in a moment of deja vu, Arango found himself in a one-on-one breakaway with Clark in the 88th. Chicho opting for a chip shot with his attempt, the MLS Golden Boot leader kept off the scoresheet as Clark again closed off the angle.

Unable to secure the dagger, a trinity of goals would prove enough for RSL as the final whistle blew with the Claret-and-Cobalt up 3-2. RSL’s 11-3-7 record is good for 40 points, tied with LAFC and LA Galaxy for top spot in the Western Conference, pending their July 4 “El Trafico.”

GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:

HOU - 8’ - Ibrahim Aliyu (Sebastian Kowalczyk, Franco Escobar): The play started as a long pass from the Houston defense made it through a packed midfield and rolled onto the stride of Sebastian Kowalczyk down the left wing. He held up play while waiting for the underlapping run of Ibrahim Aliya into the box, playing an off-speed pass to his feet as Aliyu held off his only marker and connected with a right-footed shot, his strike curling just around the outstretched glove of Zac MacMath and into the side netting.

RSL - 22’ - Andrés Gómez (Bode Hidalgo): In a seemingly pedestrian run of play, Bode Hidalgo stepped up from the defensive line to head a ball forward through the midfield. As the pair of Houston center backs attempted to let it roll between them and into the box for their goalkeeper to collect, Gómez had other plans, flying at the ball as the ‘keeper desperately rushed out. Gómez would win the race though, beating Steve Clark to the ball by just milliseconds to clinically tap it past him and into the back of the net.

RSL - 42’ - Diego Luna (Matt Crooks, Andrés Gómez): RSL turned up the heat again in the 42nd minute, creating an attack as a give-and-go with Gómez sent Crooks into the attacking third with green grass ahead of him. Consuming space in the middle, he switched play to the left corner of the box for Diego Luna as he stood over the ball with bad intentions. Cutting inside, Luna beat a charging defender with a clever feint before taking one more touch inside and ripping it at the far post with his right foot, the pure connection curling it around the keeper and into the net with pace.

HOU - 55’ - Andrew Brody (OG): Winning it back in the RSL third, Houston’s Sebastian Kowalczyk fed it to Herrera out on the left wing. Stopping it at his feet and waiting for the run of his teammates in the box, Herrera whipped a cross to the back post. The ball, untouched by anyone in an orange jersey, took a slight deflection off Andrew Brody and changed course just enough to sneak by MacMath and into the net.

HOU - 67’ - Braian Ojeda (Andrés Gómez, Chicho Arango): As Chicho Arango wrangled the ball on the right side of the midfield, he picked his head up and, noticing a 3-on-4 opportunity, ran directly at the Houston defense. Getting them on their heels, Chicho laid it off to the right side of the box for Gómez and darted inside to receive the return ball. As Gómez centered it to the feet of Arango at point-blank range, Arango slipped, allowing the ball to filter through to an unmarked Braian Ojeda in the center of the box. Showing both his composure and technique, Ojeda took a touch and calmly deposited a perfect shot into the open space at Clark’s far post.

NOTES FROM RSL 3:2 HOUSTON DYNAMO:

• RSL wins its first match since the Club’s historic 15-match unbeaten streak ended against LA Galaxy on June 22.

• In Pablo Mastroeni’s 122 career games coached with RSL, the Club has dropped back-to-back games just nine times.

• RSL improves to 7-2-1 / 22 points at home in 2024, one more win and the same number of points in Sandy than last season (6-7-4 / 22 points), with seven home League games remaining.

• The attendance of 21,522 establishes the third-highest attendance in America First Field’s 15-year history.

• Winger Andrés Gómez tallies two assists (9) and a goal (11) to move into the top 10 in both categories in MLS this season, alongside teammate Chicho Arango. RSL is the only team with two players occupying spots in the top 10 of both major statistics.

• MF Braian Ojeda earns the first MLS/RSL goal of his career in his 63rd game across all competitions since first joining the Claret-and-Cobalt in Sept. 2022.

• Ojeda becomes the 105th goal-scorer in RSL’s 635-game history, amongst 210 players to have competed for the club in MLS action.
• Captain and MLS Golden Boot leader Chicho Arango appears for the first time since being named a 2024 MLS All-Star alongside teammate and homegrown RSL defender Justen Glad. Glad’s selection for the honor makes him the first RSL homegrown player to be named an MLS All-Star.

• Playmaker Diego Luna scores his fourth goal of the year to go along with nine assists, more than doubling his six total goal contributions from a year ago.

• Homegrown defender Andrew Brody tallies his 100th cap with Real Salt Lake. He becomes just the third homegrown to reach the century mark with RSL.

• RSL mounts their sixth result-clinching comeback of the 2024 campaign, the most in Major League Soccer this season.

LINEUPS:

Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath; Andrew Brody; Alex Katranis; Bode Hidalgo; Bryan Oviedo (Philip Quinton, 90+2); Emeka Eneli; Braian Ojeda; Andrés Gómez; Diego Luna (Anderson Julio, 84’); Matt Crooks (Maikel Chang, 84’); Chicho Arango © (Nelson Palacio, 90+2)

Subs not used: Tommy Silva, Gavin Beavers, Daron Iskenderian, Zavier Gozo, Noel Caliskan

Houston Dynamo (4-2-3-1): Steve Clark; Franco Escobar; Griffin Dorsey; Erik Sviatchenko (Tate Schmitt, 88’); Micael dos Santos; Artur; Latif Blessing (Sebastian Ferreira, 46’); Héctor Herrera ©; Ibrahim Aliyu (Gabe Segal, 87’); Amine Bassi; Sebastian Kowalczyk (Brad Smith, 75’)

Subs not used: Ethan Bartlow, Andrew Tarbell, Ján Greguš , Brooklyn Raines

Stats Summary: RSL / HOU

Shots: 20 / 7

Shots on Goal: 10 /2

Saves: 1 / 6

Corner Kicks: 7 / 2Fouls: 17 / 13

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:

HOU: Latif Blessing (Caution - 5’)

RSL: Braian Ojeda (Caution - 77’)

RSL: Emeka Eneli (Caution - 90+2’)