Real Salt Lake Settles For Deserving Point Against FC Dallas

SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake came from behind to pinch a road point against FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium despite having the majority of the chances in the second half.

Manager Pablo Mastroeni opted to utilize the same starting XI he has in the previous two fixtures against Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps. However, the big news regarding the team sheet was that Costa Rican left-back Bryan Oviedo was featured for the first time on the bench since joining the club earlier this week.

Painful Start

Real Salt Lake began with the majority of the possession throughout the opening five minutes. They immediately pinned FC Dallas deep into their own territory and looked to solidify the early stages of the game.

However, the first attacking chance FC Dallas created they capitalized when a Paul Arriola shot was deflected onto the right foot of Alan Velasco who beat Zac MacMath to his right and found the back of the net in the seventh minute.

A lovely way to start a match.

Alan Velasco gets us on the board early. pic.twitter.com/HKKY4PAPid

— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) August 28, 2022

The opening goal settled the contest down for FC Dallas who immediately looked far more comfortable at home in the humidity.

Real Salt Lake continued to battle and seemed determined to find an equalizer before the halftime whistle but the creativity, or lack thereof, cost the away team in the attacking third.

FC Dallas to their credit did a wonderful job following the likes of defensive midfielder Sebastian Lletget at shutting all attacking hopes of RSL.

Pablo Ruiz came awfully close from 35 yards when he hit the woodwork but nevertheless, FC Dallas took the halftime lead. Ruiz would hit the woodwork again from a free kick after Paes got a glove on the shot that was creeping under the crossbar.

Maarten Paes, you're incredible sir. pic.twitter.com/lbWTyOKSFE

— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) August 28, 2022

Mastroeni Moves Change Game

Mastroeni then made the first move of the game in the 62nd minute when he introduced Rubio Rubin and Anderson Julio off the bench. The addition of Julio and Rubin immediately altered the speed of the game and RSL looked fierce both on and off the ball.

Six minutes later Mastroeni made another move bringing on Diego Luna for Justin Meram. Shortly thereafter, the additions paid dividends when Aaron Herrera played a ball into the box when Julio rose higher than anybody else and poked the ball into the bottom right corner to score the equalizer with 21 minutes remaining.

It was just Julios second goal of the season and Herrera’s second assist of the year.

One of our favorite things:

▪️ Anderson Julio scoring off the bench pic.twitter.com/h8mrtigOpu

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) August 28, 2022

In the 75th minute, RSL had another wonderful opportunity to take the lead when FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes punched Jefferson Savarino’s cross straight to Rubin who got the ball caught under his feet before spraying his shot wide of the far post.

Real Salt Lake looked to be the far more likely team to score the winner.

FC Dallas made a number of substitutions that suggested they were going to push for all three points. The chance for Dallas to steal three points came in the 89th minute when Brandon Servania skied a shot from the penalty spot despite having the entire goal to aim for.

As the minutes continued it became apparent that despite all of the promising build-ups from Real Salt Lake that they were content leaving Frisco, Texas, with a point.

Fortunately, they survived and will enter Wednesday’s home encounter in sixth place after dropping a spot due to a Nashville SC victory against Vancouver.

Next Real Salt Lake Fixture

Real Salt Lake will return home and quickly prepare for a midweek home fixture against Minnesota United on Wednesday, August 31st.

The kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be available to stream for free via the KSL Sports and KSL 5 TV apps or on KSL Sports dot com.