HERRIMAN, UT (Monday, April 20, 2026) – Following his one-goal, two-assist performance in Real Salt Lake’s 4-2 home win over San Diego FC Saturday, RSL star and U.S. World Cup hopeful Diego Luna has been named to MLSsoccer.com’s Week 8 “Team of the Matchday” starting XI. Rookie striker Sergi Solans joins Luna on the fictional roster after scoring his fourth and fifth goals of 2026, the former UCLA/Oregon State product also adding an assist in tallying his first professional brace and seizing RSL’s 2026 Golden Boot lead.
Saturday's win extended RSL’s active unbeaten streak to six games thus far in the 2026 season, including a perfect 4-0-0 mark on Utah soil. Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s side has now won 12 games, drawing two and dropping just three of its last 17 matches since June 1, 2025, at its America First Field fortress, with an overall streak of six consecutive wins and nine straight sellouts extended by the 4-2 win over San Diego.
RSL now looks ahead to the highly-anticipated arrival of defending MLS Cup champions Inter Miami CF this Wednesday, April 22, with a star-studded roster led by the incomparable Lionel Messi arriving in Utah. Limited tickets remain and can be purchased via www.RSL.com/tickets.
Saturday against San Diego, Real Salt Lake came out the gate with energy, as Luna displayed his savvy and guile in baiting the SDFC ‘keeper into a poor pass, which the RSL midfielder intercepted and rebounded the ball back into the net for his second goal in as many games. This marks two games in a row that Luna has scored within minutes, having scored in the 4th minute during last home game against Sporting Kansas City. With the goal, Luna moved past former forward Cristian Arango and into 11th-place all-time amongst RSL scorers, the active leader now with 24 goals in 98 MLS contests, one behind former striker Anderson Julio to move into the top 10.
RSL's momentum was maintained just 90 seconds later, as Solans took a header off of a Luna assist, sending the ball into the bottom left corner just past San Diego’s goalkeeper, converting the finish into RSL’s second goal of the night, in only the sixth minute, moving the Claret-and-Cobalt ahead with a 2-0 lead.
In the 38th minute, Solans headed a ball received by winger Zavier Gozo, burying the header into the back of the net, extending RSL’s lead to 3-1. Solans’ second goal marked the first brace of his professional career, both goals in this game as headers - as well as his early March 22 strike at San Diego in the teams’ 2-2 draw at Snapdragon last month.
The energy continued to drive the team forward, as Solans made a fast break in the early in first-half stoppage time, providing a pass to DP Morgan Guilavogui, who converted the opportunity with a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner. This goal marked Guilavogui’s first goal for Real Salt Lake and his debut MLS score. The effort from Guilavogui led the team into halftime up 4-1, marking the first time RSL has entered the half with four goals since June 1, 2024 against Austin FC.
The complete Matchday 8 results for MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Matchday can be found below.
F: Petar Musa (DAL), Sergi Solans (RSL), Prince Owusu (MTL)
M: Ousseni Bouda (SJ), Diego Luna (RSL), Cristian Roldan (SEA), Lionel Messi (MIA)
D: Jefferson Díaz (MIN), Olwethu Makhanya (PHI), Maxwell Woledzi (NSH)
GK: Kristijan Kahlina (CLT)
Coach: Bruce Arena (SJ)
Bench: Sean Johnson (DC), Héctor Herrera (HOU), Evander (CIN), Hany Mukhtar (NSH), Tomás Chancalay (MIN), Joseph Paintsil (LA), Timo Werner (SJ), Emmanuel Sabbi (VAN), Hugo Cuypers (CHI)
