August 4, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release
HERRIMAN, Utah – Real Salt Lake (1-0-0, 3 points, West 8 #1; 12-5-8, 44 points, 3rd West MLS) continues its 2024 Leagues Cup group stage Monday in Houston, where an RSL win or regulation draw would advance the Claret-and-Cobalt into the Round of 32 as the West 8 Group Winner. Other various tiebreaker scenarios would likely see RSL advance (see below). Kickoff Monday is at 7:00p MT at Shell Energy Stadium, with the match available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, as Mark Rogondino & Heath Pearce (ENG) provide the call, as will Rodolfo Landeros and Martin Zuniga (SPN).
RSL kicked off its 2024 Leagues Cup experience with a 2-1 home victory over Atlas FC (Liga MX), coming back from an early deficit to win on goals from FW Anderson Julio (45+2′) and MF Nelson Palacio (79′). Palacio’s goal off the bench just one minute after coming on proved to be the game-winner, a nearly 40-yard blast that traveled at 80 miles per hour into the back of the net. RSL FW Andrés Gómez earned the assist on the Julio equalizer in the dying moments of the first half, rewarding yet another standing-room only crowd – including 20,956 for the Leagues Cup opener – at America First Field, which has seen RSL produce six consecutive sellouts and eight in 12 home games this season.
With the Thursday night RSL win, the Utah side boosted its record on Utah soil this year to 9-2-1 / 28 points, while also improving its all-time record against Mexican visitors across friendly, CONCACAF Champions League and Leagues Cup competitions in the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 20-year history to 5-6-3 / 18 points.
Monday’s trip to Houston sees RSL completes its group stage slate in West 8 facing the Dynamo for the eighth time out of what will be at least nine during the 2023/24 campaigns. Atlas defeated Houston, 1-0, last weekend to set the stage for Monday’s critical match, the third time in the last year RSL has traveled to South Texas with elimination on the line. A year ago, RSL faced Houston six times across three competitions, eliminating RSL in both last year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal (3-1 AET) and a tightly-contested first-round, best-of-three series in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs that saw shootout tiebreakers in legs two and three determine the winner.
Earlier this year, RSL defeated Houston, 3-2, on July 3 in a match that saw RSL FW Andrés Gómez provide a goal and two assists, setting up both Diego Luna and Braian Ojeda.
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