Real Salt Lake Tacks On Two Goals Before Halftime Against LAFC

SALT LAKE CITY – Andres Gomez scored just one goal for RSL in 2023. He scored twice in the first half of the 2024 home opener against LAFC on Saturday.

Just minutes after Gomez scored a brace, Chicho Arango gave Real Salt Lake a 3-0 lead with a highlight goal inside the box.

Andres Gomez has a brace in the snow. 🥶

📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/a509f963d2 pic.twitter.com/XZ2Uoc9IMN

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 2, 2024

Gomez benefitted from aggressive LAFC defense on Real Salt Lake’s best playmakers. Chicho Arango assisted on the first goal and Diego Luna found Gomez for the second.

A perfect cross found Luna right in front of the LAFC net. Luna waited a second before dumping the ball off to Gomez who snuck a shot inside the left post.

RELATED: Andres Gomez Opens Scoring For RSL In The Snow Against LAFC

Andres Gomez has a brace in the snow. 🥶

📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/a509f963d2 pic.twitter.com/XZ2Uoc9IMN

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 2, 2024

Just before halftime in the 50th minute, Arango added to the lead against his former club.

Gomez repaid the favor for Arango’s earlier assist and set up the forward with an excellent cross right in front of the net.

Arango slid through the snow and snuck a shot past LAFC goalie Hugo Lloristo, putting RSL up 3-0.

✌️😜 loves scoring & snow angels pic.twitter.com/7hb4sA7pwN

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) March 2, 2024

Real Salt Lake Hosts LAFC For Home Opener As Utah Welcomes Storm

Real Salt Lake kicks off its home schedule with a match against LAFC as the state of Utah welcomes a weekend storm featuring rain and snow.

RSL hosted Los Angeles at America First Field in Sandy, Utah on Saturday, March 2.

RELATED: Cristian Arango’s 100th Goal Gives Real Salt Lake Late Lead Over St. Louis City SC

On Saturday afternoon, the Wasatch Front will be home to rain and snow showers during Real Salt Lake’s match.

“Snow, rain, that’s something that we’re accustomed to,” RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni told KSL Sports Zone’s DJ & PK the day before the match. “I think the best way to game plan for the unknown is the mindset. If that’s already an issue before the game starts, it’s not going to bode well. So for us, it’s really about controlling the controllables.”

Real Salt Lake and LAFC in 2024

Real Salt Lake opened its 2024 schedule with a 2-0 loss to Inter Miami CF on February 21.

The club followed up the season-opening loss by picking up a point in a 1-1 draw with St. Louis CITY SC on February 24.

LAFC arrives in Utah after winning its season opener against Seattle Sounders FC, 2-1.

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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.

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