Real Salt Lake Beats Rival Colorado Rapids To Conclude Regular Season
Oct 21, 2023, 10:51 PM | Updated: Oct 23, 2023, 1:19 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – A late goal from Diego Luna led Real Salt Lake to a victory over rival Colorado Rapids in the regular season finale.
RSL and the Rapids have faced off three times this season in MLS play. Real took all three wins.
They claimed the Rocky Mountain Cup earlier this year after defeating Colorado in game two.
RELATED: Real Salt Lake Defeats Colorado Rapids To Claim Rocky Mountain Cup
Same old same old pic.twitter.com/1VzqbtDHha
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 22, 2023
Real Salt Lake Beats Colorado Rapids For Fourth Time This Year
First Half
The Rapids came out of the gates aggressively. They quickly made their way into the attacking third and looked to get on the board early.
RSL held strong and got the ball back onto Colorado’s side.
Danny Musovski took a shot on goal in the fifth minute but Colorado goalkeeper Abraham Rodriguez was able to make the save.
The Rapids would take the next six shots of the game. Four of the shots missed the mark. Zac MacMath was able to step in front of the other two.
Anderson Julio was shown a yellow card for a foul in the 30th minute.
Braian Ojeda attempted a strike from the center of the box but Rodriguez made the save in the middle of the goal.
Taking the stage pic.twitter.com/UeHIgpq2oO
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 22, 2023
Both clubs played excellent defense in the first half.
RSL and Colorado both took one more shot before the end of the half but neither found the mark.
Real Salt Lake and Colorado went into halftime tied at 0.
another half to make it happen#COLvRSL | @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/alkfjQShpN
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 22, 2023
In the two other games played against the Rapids this season, Real scored four of its five goals in the first half.
Second Half
Diego Luna nearly put RSL on the board just after half but his attempt was saved.
The trend of defense continued in DSG Park.
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 22, 2023
Neither side could build much momentum and small mistakes erased potential scoring opportunities.
The Rapids continued to take shots that were hopeful at best. Of their first 15 shot attempts, just four were on goal.
In the 74th minute, Diego Luna stepped up big for RSL.
He ran on the break and sent a strike toward the top right corner from the left side to give Real a 1-0 lead.
RELATED: Diego Luna Gives Real Salt Lake Late Lead Over Colorado Rapids
Diego’s gonna score
C.Rapids gonna C.Rapid pic.twitter.com/UX6mRsLDbr— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 22, 2023
In the final stretch, the RSL defense did a fantastic job of bending but not breaking. Colorado attempted four shots leading up to the end of the game.
Two were saved, one was blocked, and one missed to the right.
Seven minutes of stoppage time was added.
Real Salt Lake held strong and walked out of Colorado with a 1-0 win and three points.
Seven and a half hours driving. 517 miles total.
Y’all are the best ❤️ pic.twitter.com/6rxyQfpiKS
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 22, 2023
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 2023 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.
