Real Salt Lake Picks Up Draw Against St. Louis City SC
Feb 24, 2024, 8:43 PM | Updated: 8:46 pm
(Photo courtesy of Real Salt Lake)
(Photo courtesy of Real Salt Lake)
ST. LOUIS – Real Salt Lake played St. Louis City SC to a 1-1 draw at CITYPARK on Saturday.
Chicho Arango put RSL on the board in the 74th minute. St. Louis responded with their goal just five minutes later.
Real Salt Lake returns to Utah for the home opener against LAFC on Saturday, March 2.
Shared points in St. Louis #STLvRSL | @SelectHealth pic.twitter.com/DuAKkmGRSz
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) February 25, 2024
First Half
In the sixth minute, Chicho Arango stole a pass near the St. Louis box.
Arango took the shot but found the side of the net.
In the first ten minutes, Real Salt Lake controlled the time of possession.
GO TIME FROM CITYPARK 😤
📺: https://t.co/wvaLmuHUs3 pic.twitter.com/JdOMrYCHlb
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) February 25, 2024
St. Louis came back and began applying some pressure.
They took three shots in three minutes but RSL held strong. The first shot missed and the second two were blocked.
In the 23rd minute, Andrés Gómez got behind the City defense and took a shot at the bottom left corner but it was saved.
Just after the save, St. Louis was shown a yellow card for a foul on an RSL clear.
In the 32nd, St. Louis got two great looks at goal. The first came off of the foot of João Klauss and was blocked.
The second was shot by Tomas Totland but RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath made the save.
Another three before we hit halftime pic.twitter.com/dyWgyICP3D
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) February 25, 2024
RSL went into the half with 59.5% time of possession.
Despite this advantage, they took five fewer shots on goal.
Neither team was able to get much going in the closing minutes and the first half closed with a 0-0 scoreline.
Scoreless at the half #STLvRSL | @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/pjQGznuDRM
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) February 25, 2024
Second Half
Just like the first half, Arango opened the second with a pretty good look at goal.
Gómez gave Arango a perfect cross but his header attempt sailed high.
In the 60th minute, Pablo Ruiz and Arango went on a counterattack following a steal near midfield.
Ruiz left the ball for Arango on the left side of the box but RSL was unable to get a quality shot off.
In the 63rd, Matt Crooks subbed in for Pablo Ruiz to make his MLS and Real Salt Lake debut.
63′ | Crooks gets his first #RSL minutes 🌳
0-0 | @SJ_Utah pic.twitter.com/smYejOpQlS
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) February 25, 2024
In the 74th minute, Arango struck gold for RSL.
Off of a pass from Crooks, Arango slipped through the St. Louis defense and put a shot in the bottom right corner.
The goal was Arango’s 100th of his career.
Chicho opens up the account for @realsaltlake with a goal to make it 1-0 in St. Louis. That makes it his 100th career goal.
#RSL @kslsports pic.twitter.com/TzHwL3upkh
— RSL Show on KSL (@rslshow) February 25, 2024
Real wasn’t able to hold the lead for long.
Just three minutes later, Samuel Adeniran maneuvered through the RSL defense and put a shot around MacMath to the left side of the goal.
After over 70 minutes with no scores, St. Louis and RSL made it 1-1 to set up an intense final 10 minutes.
Just minutes after RSL scored its first goal of the season, St. Louis responded with a heater from the right side of the box.
We got a game at CITYPARK 🔥@realsaltlake 1@stlCITYsc 1#STLvRSL #RSL
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 25, 2024
Things calmed down for both sides following the back-to-back goals.
Eight minutes of stoppage time was added.
Real Salt Lake and St. Louis each got one shot off in stoppage time but both were blocked.
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.
