Real Salt Lake’s 6-match unbeaten run snapped by Inter Miami

SANDY — Inter Miami made itself right at home Wednesday night at America First Field, from the hordes of Messi Maniacs more than three hours before kickoff, and the throngs of pink, black and Argentina albiceleste shirts nestled among the sellout crowd.

The crowds who chanted “Messi! Messi!” at the world’s greatest player went home happy.

Real Salt Lake, not so much.

Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suarez each scored a second half goal, as the Herons got everything but a marker from Lionel Messi in snapping Real Salt Lake’s six-match unbeaten streak with a 2-0 win in front of 21,512 fans at America First Field.

It’s the Herons’ first shutout since a scoreless draw March 14 against Charlotte FC, and handed Salt Lake (5-1-2, 16 points) its first home loss since Sept. 21, 2025 against LAFC.

For Salt Lake, the most expensive match in club history against a “once in a lifetime” superstar ended in disappointment.

“Having played in big games, you’ve got to take your chances,” said RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni, whose team fell to sixth in MLS’s Western Conference with the result. “It’s a game of opportunities and converting; you’re not going to get 30 chances. Their center backs were monsters, the best I’ve seen them play in all that I’ve seen.

“On top of that, you’ve got to be extra sharp,” he added. “We just weren’t.”

Inter Miami tops hosts in front of friendly crowd

Inter Miami (5-1-3, 18 points) out-shot the hosts 8-2 in the first half. But Rafael Cabral made two saves to keep the match even, including stuffing an attempt by Messi in the 22nd minute.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner had another chance, this one less than 11 minutes in, blocked by Justen Glad as the 28-year-old RSL homegrown was tasked with defending arguably the best player in the world in his first trip to the Wasatch Front since signing with Major League Soccer.

Morgan Guilavogui had a putback goal in the fifth minute called back by the offsides flag. If the goal had not been disallowed, perhaps the half of the stadium rooting for Real Salt Lake would’ve been the celebratory half.

Instead, storms, high wind gusts and a second-half pitch invader around the 79th minute tilted the result in favor of the visitors.

Miami out-shot Salt Lake 19-11, including seven shots on target and had eight shots blocked while maintaining 51% of possession.

The Herons held RSL to four shots on target and two corner kicks, and Diego Luna — the club’s attacking talisman who played while recovering from food poisoning and following an IV drip in his arm both before the match and at halftime — was held to 0.15 expected-goals.

“We were a little bit off,” Mastroeni said. “But I think a lot of that comes from nerves.”

Oh my Rodrigo De Paul! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/sKIZBIij16

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 23, 2026

Less than five minutes after a pitch invader was corralled and escorted from the playing surface with their 10 seconds of fame, De Paul corralled a short corner from Messi through Telasco Segovia in the 83rd minute and uncorked a laser insider the far post that gave the visitors the only lead they would need.

Suarez doubled the advantage in the 84th minute, sending a sizable portion of the fourth-largest home crowd in Real Salt Lake history to their feet with screams and cheers.

Next up

Real Salt Lake heads to Los Angeles to face the LA Galaxy on Sunday night (5 p.m. MDT, Apple TV). The Galaxy dropped a 2-1 decision to Columbus to fall to 2-4-3 on the season.

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