Real Salt Lake adds another shutout in Leagues Cup win over FC Juarez

SANDY — Real Salt Lake kept its Leagues Cup knockout-round hopes alive, even if for one more day.

Sergi Solans continued his torrid scoring pace in just one half of play, Morgan Guilavogui added his first of the MLS-on-Liga MX competition, and Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos scored his first in Claret-and-Cobalt as Salt Lake cruised to a 3-0 win over FC Juarez in the phase-one finale for both teams Tuesday night at America First Field.

The win pushed RSL as high as second in the MLS side of the competition with a 2-1-0 record (7 points). Salt Lake is just 1 point behind Columbus, which drew Pumas 1-1 in the Crew’s finale, just ahead of five teams on 6 points.

“There are a lot of positives to take away from this game,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said. “But the biggest positive to me was the way we defended. The mentality of this group defensively, there’s been a click, a change in these last two games, and that’s been the biggest takeaway.”

Three of those teams play Wednesday — Austin FC against Club América, Chicago Fire against Cruz Azul, and FC Dallas against Toluca — and LAFC is on five points ahead of Wednesday’s phase-one finale against Querétaro FC.

But RSL also returns to MLS play Saturday against Minnesota United, and that’s where Mastroeni will maintain his focus, he said.

Real Salt Lake takes care of business in Leagues Cup phase-one finale

Before then, the hosts put together two halves of strong football, holding Juarez to just two of 14 shots on target and just 16 touches in the opponent’s box to book consecutive wins since a 1-1 draw with Club Tigres that preceded a shutout win over Atlante in the Leagues Cup opener.

Salt Lake rotated heavily for the final match of Leagues Cup phase one, starting newly-signed striker Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos in front of a back line featuring Philip Quinton, Sam Junqua and DeAndre Yedlin.

The hosts needed a win, and some help — plenty of it — from their MLS counterparts to clinch one of four spots from the league in the knockout rounds of the inter-league tournament between the top-two leagues in CONCACAF.

RSL did its part from the jump.

After Juarez defender Jesus Murillo was called for a penalty for a handball in the 25th minute, Guilavogui stepped up to the spot and put the hosts ahead 1-0 with a true shot inside the right post.

Morgan Guilavogui opens his @LeaguesCup account to put @realsaltlake in front of Juárez! 🙌

📺 Apple TV: https://t.co/tgvLLbgdEK pic.twitter.com/M4wwUfrdSG

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 12, 2026

The Bravos out-shot Salt Lake 7-6 in the first half, but RSL had the only two shots on target with 60% of possession at the break.

But with the final match of Phase 1 of the competition — and a return to MLS play Saturday against Minnesota — Mastroeni brought in Solans and Noel Caliskan off the bench at halftime.

Solans, who has seven goals and three assists in 17 matches in MLS play, didn’t need long to double the hosts’ advantage.

Sergi Solans does it again 🌟@realsaltlake has doubled their lead over Juárez!

📺 Apple TV: https://t.co/tgvLLbgdEK pic.twitter.com/ME8XeaF0J7

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 12, 2026

The rookie forward out of Lleida, Spain, by way of Oregon State and UCLA, sprinted to a through ball from Caliskan int he 53rd minute before reaching with his left foot and striking the ball over the goalkeeper to put Salt Lake up, 2-0.

Rodrigues added a third with a chip shot over the keeper from Yedlin in the 68th minute to keep Salt Lake flying in front of the Liga MX side that had won its first two Leagues Cup matches against Minnesota and Vancouver by an aggregate score of 5-2.

Juarez nearly pulled one back with a penalty in the 75th minute. But Óscar Estupiñán’s spot kick soared into the supporters’ section behind Rafael Cabral, who made two saves to clinch back-to-back shutouts for the first time since July 2025.