Real Salt Lake Takes Late Lead Over Colorado With Two Quick Goals

SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake spent nearly 30 minutes looking for an equalizer against the Colorado Rapids.

Finally, in the 85th minute, Chicho Arango answered the call for RSL.

Tied in Salt Lake late! 🤯

Arango heads it home. // #RivalryWeek by @continentaltire pic.twitter.com/Ad8Cg2JG5i

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 19, 2024

Emeka Eneli loaded up from the top of the box but his attempt banged off the crossbar. Real Salt Lake’s MVP candidate rose up above the Colorado defense to redirect Eneli’s miss into the bottom right corner.

America First Field was buzzing after the equalizer. Three minutes later, Real made the home fans start jumping.

Arango found Andres Gomez sneaking through the middle with a great through ball. Gomez beat every Rapid player in the area to the ball and slotted his shot into the left side of the goal.

GOMEZ GIVES SALT LAKE THE LEAD! 🔥#RivalryWeek by @continentaltire pic.twitter.com/7ewVsQEdtw

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 19, 2024

Arango and Gomez scored the two first-half goals for Real. With the equalizer and lead-taking goal, they both recorded a brace against Colorado.

In stoppage time, Anderson Julio got in on the fun to give RSL a two-goal cushion.

Real Salt Lake had numbers on the break and Julio called his own number to make it 5-3.

MAKE IT FIVE! ✋

Anderson Julio puts the nail in the coffin for Salt Lake! // #RivalryWeek by @continentaltire pic.twitter.com/1CuW6gidef

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 19, 2024

RSL Hosts Rival Colorado In Important Midseason Matchup

Real Salt Lake will look to add three points to its season total as the Colorado Rapids come into America First Field for an important matchup on Saturday.

RSL and Colorado last faced off in March. The 2-1 loss was Real Salt Lake’s last loss in MLS play.

Real comes off of a big 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders that propelled them back into the top rank in the Western Conference.

RSL now sits four points ahead of Minnesota in second.

The Rapids are in much better form this season compared to last. They currently hold the four-spot in the West with a record of 6-4-3.

Lil bros are comin to town #RSLvCOL | @EnglandLogistic pic.twitter.com/7me3xfmcUb

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) May 17, 2024

It was a rare week for RSL where the club scored two goals with neither having a contribution from Chicho Arango.

With 11 goals and 7 assists, Arango has either scored or set up 18 of Real’s 22 goals so far this season.

Last week, the hero was Diego Luna. After a slow start to the year, Luna had a great game against Seattle. He assisted Andres Gomez in the first half and scored his second goal of the season after halftime.

#RSL midfielder Diego Luna recaps his assist and goal in 2-0 win over Seattle. 🥅#RSLvSEA #MLS pic.twitter.com/9SWKDzvtls

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 16, 2024

Head coach Pablo Mastroeni acknowledged the importance of the Colorado matchup following the win on Wednesday.

“They’ve really hit a different stride this year,” Mastroeni said. “They’re a very dynamic team. I go back to the game we played here. I felt like we were in control. We let a couple of moments (hit) us mentally and we kind of lost our mojo. From that game, I think we’ve come a long way.”

#RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni previews this weekends match against rival Colorado. ⏭️#RSLvCOL #MLS pic.twitter.com/seCoBFssw0

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 16, 2024

RSL and Colorado will face off one more time on Saturday, July 20.

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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