Chicho Arango Gives RSL Hope After Rough Start Against Colorado
May 18, 2024, 8:22 PM
(Photo courtesy of Real Salt Lake)
(Photo courtesy of Real Salt Lake)
SALT LAKE CITY – RSL got out to a slow start against the Colorado Rapids but a goal from Chicho Arango put some wind in the sails of the home side.
Arango now has 12 goals and seven assists on the season.
Goal No. 12 on the year for Chicho!#RivalryWeek by @continentaltire pic.twitter.com/M7nKbME6Zf
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 19, 2024
After Colorado took advantage of poor defense from Real Salt Lake’s backline, things looked bleak at America First Field.
Thankfully, as he has done all year thus far, Arango stepped up when Real Salt Lake needed him most.
Andres Gomez applied heavy pressure on the Rapids in the box which set up an easy clean-up goal for Arango from close range.
23′ | Chicho pulls one back #RSLvCOL | 2-1 pic.twitter.com/A4H8zguIhP
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) May 19, 2024
Following a rare week that saw RSL score two goals with no contributions from Arango, he got back into the books against Colorado.
Arango has now scored or assisted on 19 of Real’s 23 goals this season.
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.
