Shorthanded Real Salt Lake pulls road draw with St. Louis

SALT LAKE CITY — With a shorthanded roster for a match sandwiched between the MLS All-Star Game and the start of Leagues Cup with Liga MX, Real Salt Lake did what it’s made of a habit Saturday night in St. Louis.

Sergi Solans scored his seventh goal of the season before St. Louis City SC’s Marcel Hartel equalized in the second half en route to a 1-1 draw between the two clubs at Energizer Park.

The draw improved Salt Lake to 3-1-3 all-time against St. Louis, the Western Conference foe that joined MLS in 2023. That includes a four-match unbeaten run with one win and three draws in the Gateway to the West, part of a run of six-straight without a loss overall.

“The positives from this game was a group that was willing to suffer when we weren’t at our best with the ball, and the set piece defending,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni told reporters after the game. “That’s something that we’ve really been harping on as a group, and the guys came up trumps tonight.”

Mastroeni made four changes to last week’s roster that followed a 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers, including replacing star wing back Zavier Gozo with fellow Utah native Zach Booth after the former strained a hip Wednesday at the MLS All-Star Game in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Gozo did not make the trip to St. Louis, leading to Booth’s first start for his hometown club since May 23. Griffin Dillon and Sam Junqua were also back in the starting lineup for the first time since May 13 with Salt Lake facing a Leagues Cup match Tuesday against Tigres UANL.

Real Monarchs standout Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, who has five goals and two assists in 14 appearances in MLS NEXT Pro, earned his first career MLS start due to the red card issued to designated player Morgan Guilavogui in last week’s loss in the Rose City.

But St. Louis jumped out on the front foot, out-shooting the visitors 7-0 in the first half. Salt Lake held St. Louis to just one shot on goal but totaled just five touches in the opponents’ box to City’s 14 by halftime, when Dillon was subbed off for what Mastroeni later confirmed was a fracture of the fifth metatarsal that will require surgery.

That's now 7 goals on the season for Sergi Solans 🙌@realsaltlake leads in St. Louis, 1-0!

📺 Apple TV: https://t.co/1GYD8XrSmK pic.twitter.com/Ng6q6v44FP

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 2, 2026

“It was always going to be tough. I think not having Gozo against a team that plays man-to-man, we missed his speed up top and we missed Morgan who is a guy who can hold the ball up in very difficult situations to bring th midfield into the game,” Mastroeni said. “It was always going to be a tough slog. But I liked Lineker, bringing him into a tough situation and he did a good job. We didn’t have a lot of control, but he fought and he competed.

“I thought Zach Booth was excellent on both sides of the ball; he continues to improve in that position,” he added. “Sam Junqua had a top, top performance, particularly against the ball with the way they were rotating players.”

Junqua had perhaps the best chance for RSL in the 55th minute, but his left-footed volley was saved by Roman Burki in the top right corner.

Five minutes later, Solans put the visitors in front with his team-high seventh goal of the year, a left-footed finish from newly acquired Saba Lobjanidze for a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute.

Marcel Hartel equalized in the 72nd minute with a right-footed shot for St. Louis after the 30-year-old German midfielder picked up his own rebound following a blocked shot midway through the second half.

But Salt Lake held St. Louis to just four shots on target of 20 taken, and found moments in the second half to threaten — including a well-played moment between Lobjanidze and Noel Caliskan that ended with Solans’ finding the back of the net.

“I thought he changed the game for us, and found moments in transition,” Mastroeni said of the former Atlanta United winger. “There were obviously a couple of important players missing. But I thought the guys that came in did a great job.”

Real Salt Lake returns home to host Tigers UANL in a Leagues Cup opener for both teams Tuesday at 8 p.m. MT. The club will then host Liga MX side Atlante next Saturday, Aug. 8.