Portland, Ore. (Wed., July 16, 2025) – Real Salt Lake (8-10-4, 28 points, 10th West) secured its third consecutive victory with a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. Midfielder Diogo Gonçalves netted his third goal of the season, while the Claret-and-Cobalt recorded its seventh clean sheet of the year. The result snapped Portland’s 10-game home unbeaten streak—marking the Timbers’ first loss at home since February 23.
RSL boss Pablo Mastroeni made two personnel changes and two positional tweaks from last Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Houston. Mastroeni handed starts on the back line to both Bode Hidalgo and Brayan Vera, while Sam Junqua pushed out wide left. With Braian Ojeda sidelined due to yellow card accumulation, right back Noel Caliskan stepped into a starting role in the midfield, his natural position. The Claret-and-Cobalt lined up in a familiar 4-2-2-2 formation, its second match in a slight alteration from the Club’s typical setup.
Caliskan brought a fresh blend of defensive bite and attacking momentum alongside Pablo Ruiz in the heart of midfield. Caliskan’s start carries added significance, as he faced the club that drafted him - selected 15th overall by the Portland Timbers in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. Up top, striker William Agada led the line for the Claret-and-Cobalt, aiming to build on his goal-scoring form from last week’s match. In goal, Rafael Cabral continued his Iron Man campaign, having played every minute of RSL’s 24 matches across all competitions, while donning the captain’s armband for the seventh straight match.
Real Salt Lake opened the match under heavy defensive pressure as the Timbers came out on the front foot. With Vera stepping up in his defensive role, the Claret-and-Cobalt weathered the early storm. A crucial moment came in the 39th minute when RSL captain Cabral came up with a massive save to deny a dangerous Timbers chance, keeping the match level. Despite the initial focus on defending, RSL steadily generated attacking opportunities through the efforts of Agada and RSL starlet Diego Luna. RSL Academy product Zavier Gozo also played a key role in sparking the attack, using his pace and creativity to stretch the Timbers' backline. While those chances didn’t translate into a goal, RSL remained persistent and continued to push forward with confidence and composure, keeping the clean sheet heading into the locker room.
RSL’s relentless defensive effort and sharp counterattacking play finally paid off in the 83rd minute. A quick transition saw Gonçalves and second-half substitute Ari Piol combine brilliantly on a perfectly executed one-two. The fluid exchange carved through the Portland defense, allowing Gonçalves to slot home his third goal of the season for the Claret-and-Cobalt - capping off a well-earned breakthrough in the final stages of the match.
Real Salt Lake stayed composed under late pressure from the Timbers, fending off multiple pushes in search of an equalizer to secure a hard-fought road victory against a longtime Western Conference rival. In front of a lively crowd of 21,772 at Providence Park, RSL earned its first MLS reg. season win in Portland since 2017 - snapping the Timbers’ 10-game unbeaten streak at home. Cabral once again proved his value between the posts, coming up with several key saves to record his seventh clean sheet of the 2025 season across all competitions.
Real Salt Lake heads back to the Beehive State to host FC Cincinnati this Saturday, July 19 at America First Field, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. MT. Tickets for the weekend’s home match can be found at www.RSL.com/tickets.
GOAL SCORING SUMMARY:
RSL: Diogo Gonçalves (Ari Piol) 83’: After the build-up from the back, Piol found himself at the top of the box, heavily defended and passing the ball to the right-hand side for Gonçalves, who took a touch and launched a right-footed shot, finding the back of the net and bringing RSL ahead on the scoresheet.
NOTES FROM POR 0 : 1 RSL
- RSL has now scored first in 15 of 24 games this year, with all eight wins coming in games that see the Utah side draw first blood - RSL now 8W-4L-3T when scoring first this season in all competitions
- By recording back-to-back clean sheets in the consecutive 1-0 wins this week, RSL has blanked opponents in consecutive matches for the first time since last October
- With the win tonight, RSL claimed the full three points at Portland for the first time since 2017 in MLS action, although RSL - which tonight snapped a 10-game home unbeaten streak for the Portland Timbers (last losing at Providence Park on February 23) - did win a U.S. Open Cup match away at the Timbers in May 2023
- The Gonçalves goal marks his second in the last three matches, and his third of the 2025 season, moving him into sole possession of second place in the Club's 2025 Golden Boot race, behind Diego Luna (8 goals)
- RSL has won three consecutive games for the first time since May, 2024, with the active five-game unbeaten run RSL’s longest since last October, when the Claret-and-Cobalt finished 2024 on a seven-game run without a loss
LINEUPS:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Rafael Cabral ©; Bode Hidalgo, Justen Glad (Philip Quinton, 80’), Brayan Vera, Sam Junqua (Alexandros Katranis, 72’); Pablo Ruiz, (Emeka Eneli, 73’) Noel Caliskan; Diogo Gonçalves (Jesus Barea, 90+2’), Diego Luna (Dominik Marczuk, 90’); Zavier Gozo, William Agada (Ariath Piol, 73’)
Subs not used: Mason Stadjuhar, Johnny Russell, Griffon Dillion
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
Portland Timbers (5-4-1): Maxime Crepeau; Omir Fernandez (Ariel Lassiter, 55’), Dario Zuparic, Finn Surman, Jimer Fory, Juan Mosquera (Eric Miller, 71’); Diego Chara ©, David Ayala (Cristhian Paredes, 86’), Kevin Kelsy, Santiago Moreno; Felipe Mora (Gage Guerra, 71’)
Subs not used: Ian Smith, James Pantemis, Joao Ortiz
Head Coach: Phil Neville
Stats Summary: POR / RSL
Shots: 10 / 11
Shots on Goal: 2 / 4
Saves: 3 / 1
Corner Kicks: 9 / 2
Fouls: 9 / 11
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: Brayan Vera (Yellow Card - 45’)
RSL: Pablo Ruiz (Yellow Card - 52’)
RSL: Bode Hidalgo (Yellow Card - 67’)
POR: Felipe Mora (Yellow Card - 69’)
RSL: Rafael Cabral (Yellow Card - 90+8’)
