(Monday, June 3, 2024) – For the ninth consecutive matchday, first-place Real Salt Lake places at least one player – this week, Captain **Chicho Arango** – onto Major League Soccer’s Team of the Matchday, with the MLS Golden Boot leader named to the fictional XI following his hat trick Saturday, with teammate **Anderson Julio** named to the bench selection.
First-place RSL extended its active 13-game MLS unbeaten streak with an astounding four-goal first half Saturday against visiting Austin FC, as Chicho and Julio each notched two goals in the initial 45 minutes. Arango – now Major League Soccer’s solo Golden Boot leader with 16 goals in 17 games, adding nine assists to match Lionel Messi at the top with 25 goal contributions this season – opened the scoring with an audacious 16th-minute laser from 63-yards out in a surefire MLS Goal of the Year candidate, completing his eventual hat trick from the penalty spot midway through the second half of an eventual 5-1 win.
The Arango hat trick was his second this season (March 30, 3-1 win over St. Louis), joining former RSL man Alvaro Saborio as the lone players in RSL’s 210-player history over 20 years and 631 games to tally multiple career hat tricks for the Claret-and-Cobalt (Arango, 35 games; Saborio, 127). Arango needs just one more goal this season to match Saborio’s single-season RSL goal record of 17 (set in 2012), while an assist would make Arango just RSL’s third-ever 10g/10a player in 20 years, joining Albert Rusnák (11g/11a in 2021) and Jeff Cunningham (16g / 11a in 2006).
Julio’s brace was his first since April, 2021 at Minnesota in his first-ever game for RSL. The two first-half goals Saturday marked Julio’s fourth and fifth of the season for RSL, for whom he has now scored 22 career MLS goals, including 14 off the bench. Fifteen of Julio’s 22 career goals have come in the second half, including nine in the 80th minute or later.
With the 5-1 demolition of Austin, RSL’s active unbeaten run entering the current FIFA international break has been extended to 13 games, the second-longest single-season streak without a loss in MLS action in the Club’s 20-year history. Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s men have also secured eight straight road results, last losing away on Feb. 21 in the MLS 2024 season opener at Miami. Overall this season, RSL boasts a 3-1-5 / 14-point road record, second only to Minnesota in the West and Miami/Cincinnati/Philadephia in the Eastern Conference.
First-place RSL (9-2-6, 33 points, 1st West) returns to action following this week’s international break with two more away matches, June 15/19, at Montreal and Kansas City, prior to hosting the LA Galaxy on Sat., June 22, at America First Field in Sandy. RSL has returned the Riot to a veritable fortress this season, posting a 6-1-1 / 19-point mark on Utah soil in 2024. Tickets are available at www.RSL.com/tickets for the upcoming June 22 (LA Galaxy), July 3 (Houston) and July 6 (Atlanta) home contests.
Recent Team of the Matchday selections have also recognized RSL MF Diego Luna (Matchday 15), DF Bryan Vera (Matchday 12), Alex Katranis (Matchdays 10 and 11) and Captain Chicho Arango (Matchdays 10, 11, 14, 16) honored for their stellar performances, while RSL has also previously seen both Andrés Gómez (Matchdays 3 and 15) and teenage attacker Fidel Barajas (Matchday 5) honored in the League’s weekly recognitions.
Tickets for all home RSL and Utah Royals FC matches are available at www.RSL.com/tickets.
