Chicho Arango Buries Penalty Kick For Hat Trick Against Austin FC

SALT LAKE CITY – Chicho Arango and Real Salt Lake showed off their dominance against Austin FC on Saturday.

Arango easily scored a penalty kick in the 71st minute to give RSL a 5-0 lead.

🎩 trick for Chicho!#RSLonKSL #RSLvATX #RSL @rslshow

pic.twitter.com/PO1WpbCflj

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 2, 2024

The goal gave Arango his second hat trick of the season. He also has five games with two or more goals.

The penalty kick came off of a pretty unlucky break for Austin.

A counterattack that ended in their first goal of the match was called back due to a handball in the box.

71′ | Hat trick off the PK 🎩#RSLvATX | 5-0 pic.twitter.com/9A1QycZkWS

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) June 2, 2024

Arango is now comfortably in first for most goals in the MLS this season with 16. D.C. United’s Christian Benteke is in second with 13.

Unbeaten Streak, Top Rank At Stake As RSL Hosts Austin

After back-to-back comebacks, Real Salt Lake aims to avoid another scare as they host Austin FC on Saturday.

RSL forced late draws against Seattle and Dallas to extend the club’s MLS unbeaten streak to 12 games.

After scoring the game-tying goal in the 90+9’ tonight, @realsaltlake extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games, which is tied for the second-longest single-season unbeaten run in club history. pic.twitter.com/2DIEmaonGm

— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) May 30, 2024

Real currently holds the top spot in the West with a record of 8-2-6. Austin sits in fifth with a record of 6-5-5.

Before the game in Seattle, RSL sat four points ahead of Minnesota in second. Since then, Minnesota was jumped by both Los Angeles clubs.

The Utah-based club now leads LAFC by three points and the Galaxy by just two points.

The race for the Western Conference is heating up 🔥 pic.twitter.com/PkYAW5NJYg

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 30, 2024

Luckily for Real, a few things point toward the upcoming matchup being in their favor.

In seven games at America First Field this season, RSL has been dominant. The riot has done its job for Real as the club has cruised to a 5-1-1 record at home.

Meanwhile, Austin has struggled in road games this year at 1-3-3.

Bringing the party back to the Riot

🎟️: https://t.co/dEsuhmJbPe | #RSLvATX pic.twitter.com/8fs1H6xU2R

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) May 30, 2024

Real will look at Chicho Arango to be a difference-maker for the one-game home stand. Arango has 13 goals so far this season which is more than Austin’s top three goal-scorers combined.

Real Salt Lake currently has the best goal difference in the West and the second-best goal difference in the league, only trailing Miami.

Get to know Austin 🤝#RSLvATX | @EnglandLogistic pic.twitter.com/g9So8m5kfh

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) May 31, 2024

How To Watch Real Salt Lake

All Major League Soccer games are broadcasted on Apple TV with MLS Season Pass.

All Real Salt Lake English-language radio coverage for the 2024 season and beyond will be carried on various KSL radio signals. KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM) and KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM / 1160 AM) are both stations under the Bonneville International umbrella.

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Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.

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