Real Salt Lake Quiet In Second Half, Settles For 1-1 Draw
Jun 28, 2025, 8:59 PM | Updated: Jun 30, 2025, 9:35 am
Real Salt Lake's starting XI pose for a photo before facing Sporting KC on June 28, 2025. (Photo Courtesy of Real Salt Lake)
(Photo Courtesy of Real Salt Lake)
SALT LAKE CITY – Sporting KC spoiled Johnny Russell and William Agada’s homecoming as Real Salt Lake settled for a 1-1 draw against its Western Conference foe.
Sporting Kansas City (5-10-5, 20 points) hosted RSL (5-10-4, 9 points) on Saturday, June 28, at Children’s Mercy Park
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A draw on the road#SKCvRSL | @SelectHealth pic.twitter.com/xydF6jxOb9
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) June 29, 2025
First Half
Sporting KC earned a pair of early corners but couldn’t put a shot on frame against Rafael Cabral.
😠😄😠😠😠
😠😠😠😠🙂😠 pic.twitter.com/B5oxbbos0L— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) June 29, 2025
Minutes later, Nelson Palacio had a go that sailed wide left of the KC goal.
Both sides applied a fair amount of offensive pressure in the first 15 minutes despite not breaking through.
Cabral was forced to make a diving deflection in the 27th minute to keep Sporting KC off the scoreboard.
Back and forth they went, combining for 17 shots and eight shots on frame in the first 45.
RSL took advantage of stoppage time when Alexandros Katranis assisted Johnny Russell on a header into the top right corner of the goal.
Johnny Russell is back to haunt his former club as @realsaltlake takes a 1-0 lead to the halftime break #RSL | @kslsports pic.twitter.com/jsExPaGefi
— RSL Show on KSL 🎙️⚡️ (@rslshow) June 29, 2025
It was Russell’s second consecutive match with a goal, and his first against his former team.
Real Salt Lake led 1-0 on the Russell goal after one half.
Second Half
Sporting KC stole the momentum after 15 uneventful minutes to open the period.
Healthy passing led to an opening for Erik Thommy to blast a right-footed shot from the top of the box into the far corner for an equalizer.
A STRIKE FROM THOMMY AND WE'RE TIED UP ‼️
Watch #SKCvRSL on #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV 🖥️: https://t.co/uV4VN678Yd pic.twitter.com/CDNmt5Pmxu
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) June 29, 2025
Cabral made a terrific save two minutes later, erasing a miscue that nearly gave Sporting its first lead.
Russell received a nice ovation from the home crowd when he subbed out in the 65th minute.
Matters turned chippy midway through the half after Zavier Gozo earned a yellow card for a high boot.
Gozo’s been a bit spicy and chippy this match #RSL
— RSL Show on KSL 🎙️⚡️ (@rslshow) June 29, 2025
Pablo Ruiz earned a yellow minutes later as both sides tried to convince the official of infractions.
Sporting KC went down a man in the 82nd minute when Jake Davis earned his second yellow on a bad foul.
Seven minutes of stoppage time gave RSL a late opportunity to benefit from the man advantage.
Gozo thought he had a sure goal in the 96th minute, but a perfectly timed deflection by Jansen Miller off the back line kept the game even.
RSL settled for a 1-1 draw after a spirited ten minutes of stoppage time.
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How To Watch Real Salt Lake
RSL returns to America First Field to host St. Louis City SC on Saturday, July 5. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. MT.
All Major League Soccer games are broadcast 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.
For more Real Salt Lake coverage and analysis, subscribe to The RSL Show and follow them on Instagram.
You can find KSL Sports coverage of Real Salt Lake here.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
