By. Carson Lantz
Real Salt Lake was once again on the road, this time in Saint Louis, Missouri, visiting Saint Louis City SC. This marked RSL’s second-ever visit to City Park Stadium, with their last encounter resulting in a memorable 3-1 victory fueled by standout performances from Diego Luna and Damir Kreilach.
Pablo Masteroni’s Starting XI: Zac Macmath in goal, Bode Hidalgo and Andrew Brody on the outside, Justen Glad and Brayan Vera as the center-back duo, Braian Ojeda and Emeka Eneli as the trusted midfielders, Pablo Ruiz as the attacking midfielder, Diego Luna and Andres Gomez as the wingers, and Captain Chicho as the striker. Masteroni’s preferred formation tonight was a 4-2-3-1.
Bradley Carnell’s Starting XI: Roman Bürki in goal, Tomas Totland and Anthony Markanich as the outside backs, Tim Parker and Joakim Nilsson as the center-back pairing, Njabulo Blom and Eduard Lowen as the midfield pairing, Aziel Jackson and Nokkvil Thorisson as the wingers, and Celio Pompeu and Joao Klauss as the striker duo up top. Carnell’s formation of choice was a traditional 4-4-2.
The first half proved to be a tense battle, resembling a game of tug-of-war, with both sides constantly exchanging attacks. Despite conceding 8 shots (with only one on target), RSL’s defense, bolstered by Zach Macmath’s crucial saves, kept the game deadlocked at 0-0. Although Salt Lake managed only 4 shots (with one on target), a notable attempt came from Andres Gomez, whose shot was saved by Roman Bürki, the 2023 Goalkeeper of the Year.
With the responsibility of captaincy, striker Chicho Arango needed to shoulder the team’s offensive burden. Despite several opportunities in the first half, Arango’s shots failed to hit the mark. Signed last season for a reported fee of $6 million, a record transfer for the club, Arango must prove his worth by consistently finding the back of the net, addressing Salt Lake’s recent struggle to secure a consistent striker.
The second half saw Salt Lake emerge with renewed determination, eager to secure all three points. Their best chance came in the 50th minute when Andres Gomez delivered a cross to Chicho, whose header sailed over the crossbar. However, debutant Matt Crooks, introduced in the 63rd minute, immediately bolstered the attack. In the 73rd minute, Crooks orchestrated a
brilliant play, delivering a beautiful pass to Chicho, who calmly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner, giving RSL a 1-0 lead! To sweeten that goal even more, that was Chicho’s 100th career goal.
Matt Crooks, the Manchester United youth product, was brought into Salt Lake from across the pond, where he was playing in the English Championship for Middlesbrough. The 6’4″ attacking midfielder, nicknamed “The Tree,” cost Real a reported $1 million transfer fee, and in his first game, he’s already made an impact on the field.
Real Salt Lake finally looked like they had broken Saint Louis and were going to leave City Park with all 3 points, but substitute Samuel Adeniran had other plans. He came on in the 67th minute, and it didn’t take long for Adeniran to make an impact on the game. Adeniran secured an over-the-top ball from Eduard Lowen, beat defender Brayan Vera, and with Justen Glad as the last defender to beat, he curled the ball into the left side of the goal with ease. Saint Louis had equalized, and the game was now tied at 1-1.
The game ended 1-1. Salt Lake had plenty of chances to come out with 3 points from this game. They absolutely dominated Saint Louis in the 2nd half, pelting 13 shots (three on target) at the home team’s goal and also controlling the game with 60 percent of ball possession. There are lots of positives to take from this game as the attack looked a lot better than it did versus Inter Miami, and the addition of Matt Crooks will for sure play a positive role in upcoming games. Others like Andres Gomez and Emeka Eneli were standout players as both looked a lot more involved in the defense and attack than they did last time out. Arguably, Andres Gomez was Salt Lake’s best performer. With both sides earning a point from the match, Salt Lake secured their first point of the season and will now head back home for their season opener against Western Conference giant LAFC on March 2nd, 2024.