SANDY, Utah (Saturday, September 4, 2021) – Real Salt Lake (8-8-6, 30 points) secured a 3-2 win over FC Dallas at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night, maintaining its position above the playoff line in the competitive Western Conference in Interim Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s first win in charge of the club.
Justen Glad scored his second goal of the 2021 season before Jonathan Menéndez scored hist first goal in Major League Soccer while Albert Rusnák scored his sixth of the year in the win.
The first 15 minutes of the match saw RSL control the pace of the game and test the FC Dallas backline on multiple occasions but couldn’t find the breakthrough. In the 19th minute, a giveaway from RSL at the back gifted FC Dallas a chance to break the deadlock which they did through Franco Jara when he touched the ball past Andrew Putna in the RSL goal for the 1-0 lead. RSL would answer with a goal of its own in the 42nd minute when Aaron Herrera sent a perfect cross into the box from a quick set piece, finding the head of Glad inside the six-yard box to level the match 1-1 before the half.
RSL took the lead in the 54th minute through Menéndez who slammed home the go-ahead goal after Noah Powder’s deflected strike found its way to him inside the penalty area. RSL added a third in the 72nd minute when Menendez turned provider to assist Rusnák whose effort snuck under the goalkeeper and across the line to put RSL up 3-1.
The visitors answered in the 80th minute however, through Jesus Ferreira who used a superb individual effort inside the penalty area to bring a goal back for FC Dallas. From there, RSL was able to hang on for the 3-2 win.
UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake looks ahead now to back-to-back road matches against LAFC on September 12 and San Jose Earthquakes on September 15.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:
DAL: Franco Jara (Jesus Ferreira) 19th minute – Following a giveaway at the back from RSL, Ferreira sent a through ball past two defenders to Jara who took a touch past the goalkeeper and slipped the ball into the goal.
RSL: Justen Glad (Aaron Herrera, Albert Rusnak) 42nd minute – From a set piece, Rusnák found Herrera out wide who took one touch and hit a tight cross through traffic directly onto the head of Glad. The defender rose up and sent the ball across the face of goal into the bottom left corner of the net.
RSL: Jonathan Menendez 54th minute – Finding the ball near the corner of the penalty area, Noah Powder tagged a shot that took a deflection that was saved by the FC Dallas goalkeeper. Menendez was there to clean up the sequence, smashing home his first goal with RSL.
RSL: Albert Rusnák (Jonathan Menéndez) 72nd minute – Receiving the ball in a wide position, Menéndez cut in towards the top of the penalty area to feed Rusnák whose low shot bounded underneath the goalkeeper and across the line for his sixth goal of the year.
DAL: Jesus Ferreira (Jader Obrian) 80th minute – Cutting inside the penalty area to beat his first defender, Ferreira then took another defender on inside the box before finding space to lash a high shot that found the roof of the net.
NOTES:
- Aaron Herrera returned to the starting group after missing last weekend’s match at Vancouver where he was held out as an injury precaution.
- Winger Jonathan Menéndez scored his first goal for RSL and added an assist in the victory.
- RSL are now 6-2-4 at home this season, tied for the best home-points total in the Western Conference with the LA Galaxy who have earned a 7-4-1 home record thus far.
- Bobby Wood was unavailable due to a hamstring strain suffered in the team’s match against Houston on August 18. He is expected to be out several weeks.
- David Ochoa is nearing a return from a quad injury. He is back in training and was available off the bench against FC Dallas.
- Defender Zack Farnsworth and forward Jeizon Ramirez were unavailable due to injury.
- Real Salt Lake had two RSL Academy products in the XI and five on the 20-man roster. Additionally, five players on the 20-man roster were previously signed to the Monarchs.
Match: Real Salt Lake vs. FC Dallas
Date: September 4, 2021
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
Weather: Sunny and 81 degrees
Attendance: 15,822
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 2 3
FC Dallas 1 1 2
DAL: Franco Jara (Jesus Ferreira) 19’
RSL: Justen Glad (Aaron Herrera, Albert Rusnak) 42’
RSL: Jonathan Menendez 54’
RSL: Albert Rusnák (Jonathan Menéndez) 72’
DAL: Jesus Ferreira (Jader Obrian) 80’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Andrew Putna; Aaron Herrera, Justen Glad, Marcelo Silva, Noah Powder; Pablo Ruiz (Nick Besler 82’), Everton Luiz, Jonathan Menéndez (Maikel Chang 82’), Damir Kreilach, Albert Rusnák; Rubio Rubin (Anderson Julio 90’+3)
Subs not used: David Ochoa, Donny Toia, Ashtone Morgan, Toni Datkovic, Justin Portillo, Milan Iloski
FC Dallas (3-4-3): Phelipe; Nkosi Tafari, Matt Hedges, Ryan Hollingshead (Justin Che 76’); Edwin Cerillo (Quignon 76’), Brandon Servania (Andres Ricaurte 76’), Paxton Pomyka (Kalil Elmedkhar 68’)l, Jesus Ferreira; Ema Twumasi (Eddie Munjoma 88’), Franco Jara, Jader Obrian
Subs not used: Kyle Zobek, Jose Martinez
Stats Summary: RSL / DAL
Possession: 55.5 / 44.5
Shots: 25 / 14
Shots on Goal: 12 / 2
Saves: 0 / 9
Corner Kicks: 3 / 4
Offside: 2 / 1
Fouls: 10 / 14
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
DAL: Jader Obrian (caution) 25’
RSL: Aaron Herrera (caution) 45’+2
DAL: Nkosi Tafari (caution) 49’
RSL: Albert Rusnák (caution) 65’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Assistant Referees: Matthew Nelson, Chantal Boudreau
4th Official: Allen Chapman
VAR: Alex Chilowicz
AVAR: Chris Elliott
