Real Salt Lake kicked off its Coachella Valley Invitational preseason slate with a hard-earned, come-from-behind 1-1 draw against 2023 Western Conference champions St. Louis CITY SC in the team’s first friendly game in Indio, Calif., on Wednesday afternoon.
Australian winger Lachlan Brook - playing as a 10 in RSL’s evolved game model due to the absence of young starlet Diego Luna - netted a spectacular left-footed curling effort 20 minutes in the 70th minute to bring both sides level. RSL had earlier conceded just before halftime after an own goal from Alex Katranis, in a bid to clear the ball, had fortuitously put St. Louis in front near the end of the first half. RSL boss Pablo Mastroeni’s charges forced to endure a third straight preseason draw in as many games nearly a month into their 2025 preseason campaign.
RSL began the game dictating tempo, on the front foot for the opening quarter of an hour and getting its first real chance on goal only seven minutes in when Brook rose highest in the air to connect with a ball back inside from Dominik Marczuk. The Australian got a bit underneath his teammate’s pass and sent his effort flying over the bar.
Mastroeni’s men then appeared to cede more possession and control to their opponents as the first half wore on, ultimately paying for that transgression with shaky moments across the backline just seven minutes from first-half time. After an uncalled foul saw Bode Hidalgo slammed to the ground and Justen Glad scrambling to recover, a shot conceded from inside the penalty box hit past GK Mason Stajduhar cannoned off the crossbar before ultimately deflecting into the goal, glancing off the head of Alex Katranis as his clearance snuck under the bar.
A feisty end to the first half, however, gave way to an incredibly dominant RSL display in the second stanza, the Utah side dominating nearly the entirety of the second 45 minutes, as RSL managed to pull level late, as has been its custom late last year and once again this preseason with full grit and determination on full display. In the game’s 71st minute, the onrushing Brook received a pass atop the box in the left channel from a wide Marczuk, proceeding to curl in a brilliant left-footed strike past the STL keeper and into the top corner.
With the teams now level, RSL newcomer DF Kobi Henry then seized a set-piece opportunity with a towering header, from the middle of the area, just over the bar, while midfielder Noel Caliskan had an effort cleared off the goal line as RSL battled in search of a late winner, ultimately forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
The Debrief discusses the main talking points from Wednesday’s friendly stalemate in Palm Springs.
Brook Sparkles With Goal
It’d been a long time coming, but inverted winger Brook finally got to celebrate scoring a goal in Claret-and-Cobalt colors, albeit in only a preseason contest. The former Western Sydney Wanderers attacker developed a reputation during his time in the A-League for having a devastating left foot and a penchant for cutting infield onto his stronger side and driving in powerful or finessed efforts difficult for goalkeepers to deal with, an occasional propensity for the spectacular. RSL fans had long waited for him to effectively replicate such proclivities since his arrival on the Wasatch Front last summer. Wednesday showed the Claret-and-Cobalt supporters a glimpse of what could be in store for 2025, perhaps across multiple competitions.
Finding himself high up in a central position just outside the penalty area, the 23-year-old was on hand to receive an inside pass from Marczuk, taking a single touch with his left foot to control the ball before shifting his body weight to the right and bending a breathtaking left-footed strike beyond the reach of the opposition goalkeeper and into the top left-hand corner.
It was a spectacular effort to draw RSL level, coming at the end of a tidy, tireless 75-minute display and making up for his early missed header, and, after enduring a difficult first few competitive months, the Australian U-23 international will be hoping such a performance signals a sign of positive things to come as competition continues to heat up ahead of the CONCACAF Champions Cup opener in just two weeks.
Dominance and Precision on Show, More Ruthlessness Needed
In the 88th minute of Wednesday’s 90-minute contest at Coachella, a corner kick won by RSL was the 10th corner won by the team in just the second half alone. It was a stark representation of where the balance of power had resided throughout the second 45 minutes, in particular, but, in truth, the game as a whole.
To say RSL dominated this game would be an understatement and, perhaps, a disservice to the level of control and grit Mastroeni’s men showed throughout the encounter, and the second half, especially. The Claret-and-Cobalt enjoyed a near stellar second period from start to finish, limiting St. Louis to depending almost exclusively on fast breaks and quick transition moments for the entirety of it, but struggled to land the killer blow ultimately resulting in another hard-fought stalemate.
RSL’s transition into a more possession-oriented team has gained a lot of steam with its potency and effectiveness over the past 12-18 months, evident in the way the team now approaches and operates in games, and how it’s managed to control and dictate most of the proceedings in all three of its games thus far this preseason. That all three games have ended in draws, however, also presents a lack of ruthlessness and killer instinct, especially in the penalty area, in seeing off opponents – a trend Mastroeni and his coaching staff continue to work on rectifying ahead of the team’s first competitive game on February 19, in the CONCACAF Champions Cup against CS Herediano.
RSL’s head coach echoed the sentiment when describing his own feelings about the match during his post-match interview, saying:
“I think from 18 to 18, on offense and defense, we've been really, really good and that allows you to control games, but [ultimately] the game is won and lost inside both boxes – defending in ours, and finishing our chances and making better decisions in our opponents’, but those are the last things to come in preseason because we spend so much time on our structure.
“We spent a lot of time [working] on the way we want to get to goal and the way we want to defend before we get to our goal, and so in these next two weeks we’re really going to focus on those boxes – creating better opportunities and finishing chances in our opponents’ box, as well as doing a better job defending in ours. That will be the focal point for the next couple of weeks.”
What Did Pablo Mastroeni Say?
When asked about what he’s been most impressed by in the team’s three friendly games thus far, Mastroeni explained,
“I’d say what’s impressed me the most is the mentality [of the entire group]. The ability to take in and play with a certain level of aggressiveness and intensity on both sides of the ball has been the bright spot, and then, obviously, being able to control large portions of the games.
“So, we’re a lot further along than we were last year at this time, but I would say an area that we need to continue to improve is our defending close to goal. We’re making too many poor decisions that have, in these first three games, forced us to chase the game from behind. And [when that happens], it’s very difficult to build momentum when you’re always having to make up for some poor decisions in and around goals. So that is a focal point of ours moving forward, but again, I think the intensity, mentality, and structure that we need to have to be able to control games has been really good at this point.”
Fans who missed the live game can find the full replay of RSL’s friendly match against St. Louis on the club website here
What's Next for RSL?
The team returns to preseason action on Saturday, February 8, for the second game of its Coachella Invitational series and the penultimate game of its preseason campaign, against Las Vegas Lights FC. Kickoff is at 12 pm MT - follow @3fitzSLC for live X play-by-play.
