Real Salt Lake Drops To Houston Dynamo In Return To MLS Play

Aug 26, 2023, 10:17 PM

(Photo courtesy of Real Salt Lake)

KSL Sports

SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake fell to the Houston Dynamo, 3-0, at home on Saturday in the club’s return to MLS action.

The riot showed out for RSL’s home bout against Houston. Over 21,000 tickets were sold which made for the second-highest attendance at a Real Salt Lake home game in club history.

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Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo FC

First Half

The Dynamo pushed the pace right from the kickoff.

They displayed quality passing and movement which set up a few looks in the attacking third.

Midfielder Corey Baird benefitted from this, receiving the ball in the box and sneaking a ball past RSL goalkeeper Gavin Beavers.

#HoldItDown quickly remind #RSL of Wednesday night with a goal in the 9th minute.

Tune-in now with #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/2pEpB3nNac pic.twitter.com/axccUGEdRf

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 27, 2023

Real Salt Lake struggled in the first half and Houston took advantage.

After 25 minutes passed, the game was looking like a repeat of RSL’s loss to Houston just days ago.

In the 29th minute, defender Daniel Steres was on the receiving end of a lofted pass that he easily bounced past Beavers.

Houston took a 2-0 lead over RSL with Steres’ goal.

Houston double their lead over Real Salt Lake. 👀 pic.twitter.com/QwvxzFgtyD

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 27, 2023

Just after the Dynamo’s second goal, Real Salt Lake took back-to-back corner kicks.

The first was quickly conceded but the second found its way into the 6-yard box. Houston’s Brad Smith was able to get to it and kick it into the stands.

Neither side got much going as the first half came to a close.

RSL trailed Houston, 2-0, going into the halftime break.

it’s halftime #RSLvHOU | @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/Hf6dBpHSha

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) August 27, 2023

Second Half

There were two delays in the first ten minutes of the second half due to injuries to Dynamo players.

Maikel Chang was shown a yellow card for a foul in the 50th minute.

Also, rain began pouring down on America First Field at the same time. Some fans moved to the canopy while others left with the home club trailing by two goals.

Chicho Arango gave Danny Musovski a cross in the box in the 58th minute. There was a lot of contact between Musovski and a Houston defender, which caused fans to erupt at the no-call.

In the 60th minute, the game was postponed due to lightning in the area.

Weather delay at @AmericaFirstFLD… ⛈️

Stay tuned in for updates.#RSL #RSLvHOU pic.twitter.com/S8cv5pVpUH

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 27, 2023

After around 40 minutes, play resumed at America First Field.

In the 62nd minute, RSL ran in transition and nearly found their first goal. Arango gave Anderson Julio an excellent cross but he was caught offsides.

In the 68th minute, Arango was on the receiving end of a great cross but his header attempt barely missed to the right.

Diego Luna attempted a strike from outside the box but it was blocked.

.@realsaltlake is back‼️

A short warmup and then we return to the action 🤝#RSL #RSLvHOU pic.twitter.com/J6CuKs3cFu

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 27, 2023

In the 75th minute, Houston forced a turnover on RSL’s side and started running in transition.

With the advantage, the Dynamo passed well and eventually found midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla who scored the third goal of the game for his club.

Always delivers 😏 pic.twitter.com/hrkIIHMSOj

— Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) August 27, 2023

In the 85th minute, defender Kevon Lambert subbed in to make his Real Salt Lake debut.

Just before the end of regulation, Luna set Julio with an excellent cross but it hit him and rolled out of bounds.

Extra Time

Five minutes of stoppage time was added.

five minutes to go pic.twitter.com/B2OfiuqXQ5

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) August 27, 2023

Real Salt Lake couldn’t get on the board in the club’s first MLS regular season game in over a month. The Houston Dynamo pull out the win in Sandy, 3-0.

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 KSLSports.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.