SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake defender Johan Kappelhof opened his RSL account by scoring a goal in the first half to pull a goal back against Atlanta.

In the 37th minute, RSL forward Justin Meram served a beautiful ball into the box, making it easy for Johan Kappelhof to get his head on it and into the back of the net. The first goal of Kappelhof’s career with RSL trimmed their deficit to 2-1 in the first half.

Atlanta got two goals early in the match, starting in the seventh minute and the second coming in the 33rd minute, both coming from Ronaldo Cisneros.

YOU KNOW WE LOVE A COMEBACK STORY pic.twitter.com/MHQ7SKNfHR

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) July 14, 2022

Real Salt Lake has a chance to return to its impressive road form on Wednesday against an injury-ridden Atlanta United team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The past month for Real Salt Lake has not been as lucrative as previous months. Over their past five fixtures dating back to the 2-1 loss on the road against Vancouver on June 4, Real Salt Lake has managed one win, two losses, and two ties. In comparison, the five games before the Vancouver loss consisted of four wins and 1 loss against more challenging opponents.

The poor run of form has dropped Real Salt Lake down the Western Conference standings. At one point, Real Salt Lake was just two points shy of Supporter Shield leaders LAFC and firmly in second place in the standings, now, however, Real Salt Lake finds themselves 10 points shy of Austin FC and 9 points shy of LAFC (who have a game in hand on Austin) to sit in third place.

It remains unknown if Justen Glad will be able to return to the starting XI. Glad suffered a muscle injury days prior to the Minnesota fixture. Glad’s availability is highly speculated given the importance he is to the team. When Glad starts, Real Salt Lake has mustered 7 shutouts and 7 goals against in 12 games. When Glad does not play, Real Salt Lake is yet to play to a shutout and has conceded 17 goals in just 7 games.

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