HERRIMAN, Utah (Friday, August 26, 2022) – Real Salt Lake (10-8-8, 38 pts, 5th West) once again hits the road Saturday for a critical 7:00 p.m. MT kickoff from suburban Dallas (11-8-9, 42 pts, 3rd West) amidst a very crowded West table in the race for the MLS Cup Playoffs. Nine teams occupy 3rd – 11th places in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference, separated by just 10 points, with anywhere from six-to-eight games remaining, many of which are against each other.
RSL is unbeaten in its last four visits to the DFW Metroplex, as last year’s Justin Meram-inspired 2-1 comeback win at Toyota Stadium catapulted the Claret-and-Cobalt Club’s Cinderella run to the Western Conference Final. While RSL has won just twice at Dallas, it has not lost away to the “Hoops” since 2017. Earlier this year, Dallas became the first MLS side to win on Utah soil, surviving an RSL attacking onslaught and holding onto a 1-0 win in Sandy back on July 30.
Saturday’s match will be broadcast locally via KMYU (12 over the air, 22 satellite and 643 HD on cable), with streaming on the KSL Sports App, as well as ESPN700 AM radio. Spanish-speaking fans can tune in on KBMG Latino 106.3 FM, La Gran D 102.3 FM and KTUB 1600 AM for the local radio broadcast.
Two weeks ago away at Seattle, RSL won 2-1 to improve to 3-6-4 (W-L-T) away from home this season, snapping a four-game winless run on the road. The victory on the artificial surface at Lumen Field was sparked by goals from Venezuelan FW Sergio Cordova – the FC Augsburg (Bundesliga) loanee who has now scored in three consecutive matches and leads RSL’s 2022 Golden Boot race with seven goals – and DF Andrew Brody, the RSL Academy product and former Real Monarchs man boasting a pair of game-winners with both his 2022 goals this season (May 14, 88’ v Austin). Designated player and FW Jefferson Savarino set up both goals for the Claret-and-Cobalt against the reigning CONCACAF Champions League titleists, the May arrival with five goals and four assists in 12 games so far in his second career stint with Real Salt Lake.
That win at Seattle propelled the Utah side to improve upon its record in “bounceback” games under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni, RSL now 10W-1L-4D, earning a result in 14 of 15 matches following a loss and suffering back-to-back losses just once in the former USMNT star’s 40 games at the RSL helm. Under Mastroeni’s leadership, RSL is now 11-4-4 (W-L-T) on Utah soil against MLS opponents following the July 30 / August 6 losses to FC Dallas and LAFC in its last two home contests.
Saturday at Dallas marks the first of three RSL games next week, as the Utah side returns to State Street on Wednesday against Minnesota United FC (12-9-5, 41 pts, 4th West) in yet another critical contest. Tickets remain for that evening’s “Back to School” and “Kick Childhood Cancer” night in what could be RSL’s Club-record 14th consecutive sellout; purchase at www.RSL.com/tickets. RSL returns home Wednesday to its Sandy fortress looking to snap a three-game home winless skid, before heading to Supporters Shield leaders LAFC on Sunday, Sept. 4 at Banc of California Stadium.
Real Salt Lake @ FC Dallas
Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX
Saturday, August 27 at 7:00 p.m. MT
Game Notes for Saturday’s RSL @ DAL Match Available Online
The Adobe PDF version of the 2022 MLS Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Dallas can be found here. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact Meg Van Dyk in RSL Communications via email at meg.vandyk@rsl.com
2022 Records: Real Salt Lake (10-8-8, 38 pts, 5th West); FC Dallas (11-8-9, 42 pts, 3rd West)
