Diego Luna Brace Lifts Real Salt Lake Past Reigning Champion LA Galaxy

SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake picked up its second home win of the young MLS season against the league’s reigning champion LA Galaxy on Saturday.

Diego Luna was the hero at the riot this weekend. He opened scoring in the 21st minute and doubled the RSL lead about five minutes later. After the back-to-back scores, the Galaxy looked all but finished.

RSL ended its two-game skid with the win over LA. The club now looks forward to a road game in Tennessee against Nashville SC.

that’s a DUB#RSLvLA | @SelectHealth pic.twitter.com/uOZL6JLgEP

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) April 5, 2025

Real Salt Lake Bests LA Galaxy at AFF

First Half

Other than a few fouls and an early yellow card to Brayan Vera, the first 20 minutes were mostly uneventful. Neither team was able to get a shot off in this period.

That isn’t entirely true— Real had a forgettable miss in the 19th minute. Diogo Gonçalves, with only grass and the goalkeeper in his path, sent his shot over the crossbar.

However, as the midpoint of the first half approached, the momentum shifted.

It started just after Gonçalves’ miss. Alexandros Katranis found Diego Luna in close. 1-0.

Diogo makes up for the miss with the hold up play, Katranis with the assist and Diego Luna with the opening goal as @realsaltlake leads 1-0 @kslsports | #RSL pic.twitter.com/i2aG1kbbkh

— RSL Show on KSL 🎙️⚡️ (@rslshow) April 5, 2025

About five minutes later, Luna did it again.

In the 26th minute, the Galaxy briefly controlled a cross from Ariath Piol. But, in the blink of an eye, Luna blitzed the ball and found the bottom right corner to make it 2-0.

The score gave Luna his third MLS goal in the 2025 season.

It’s the Diego Luna Show in Sandy, UT. A brace for the Moon Man makes it 2-0 for @realsaltlake @kslsports | #RSL pic.twitter.com/efiQRTeke2

— RSL Show on KSL 🎙️⚡️ (@rslshow) April 5, 2025

Despite having the time of possession advantage through the first 45′, the Galaxy were surprisingly unthreatening on offense.

RSL took advantage of this, allowing just three shot attempts before the break. Two of the three attempts were blocked.

Real Salt Lake held on through stoppage time and went into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.

Ready for more of this after the break#RSLvLA | @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/Q8Nd1aekJz

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) April 5, 2025

Second Half

Whether it was motivation or desperation, the Galaxy came out of the break much more aggressive.

The first three shots of the half all came from LA and all came in the first ten minutes. The first attempt, off the foot of Tucker Lepley, basically painted the outside of the right post.

However, this uptick in energy from the LA offense was met with equal effort and aggression from the RSL defense.

Through 60 minutes, Real had nearly twice as many fouls as the Galaxy. LA’s frustration was growing and the lead held strong.

Rafa doing Rafa things 🙂‍↕️ pic.twitter.com/NxBFXo31Ui

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) April 5, 2025

With the lead and a distressed opponent, Real’s offense noticeably slowed down as the second half went on. After losing the possession battle in the first half, they eventually took that advantage back around the 75th minute.

That considered, the aggression was still there on defense. Three yellow cards were handed out in the second half, two of which went to RSL.

As the 90th minute passed, seven minutes of stoppage time was added.

The Galaxy looked physically and mentally beaten by that point. Real Salt Lake held on to secure a 2-0 victory and three points at home.

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.

You can find KSL Sports coverage of Real Salt Lake here.

For more Real Salt Lake coverage and analysis, subscribe to The RSL Show and follow them on Instagram. 

Chandler Holt is a co-host of the Jazz Notes podcast, a Locals In The NFL Insider, and Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com. Follow Chandler on X for Utah Jazz and Locals In The NFL updates.

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