Real Salt Lake seeks to build momentum as FC Dallas comes to town

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Real Salt Lake, having won on the road against the Houston Dynamo last weekend, will welcome FC Dallas to America First Field on Saturday night with a chance to start a winning streak in front of their home fans. 

FC Dallas (1-2-1, T-10th Western Conference) started the season on a hot streak, beating Houston 2-1 on a 76th minute goal by former RSL forward Anderson Julio, then tied the Colorado Rapids 3-3, with both results coming on the road. They lost their next two home matches though, 3-1 to Chicago and then 1-0 to Vancouver Whitecaps last Saturday, leaving them seeking answers as they travel to Utah.

Real Salt Lake had two of their offensive stars absent from training this week, with Diego Luna and Dominic Marczuk out with their respective national teams. Replacing them in the lineup will likely involve some players moving out of positions where the Salt Lake faithful are used to seeing them.

Forward Arioth “Ari” Piol, who came over from the Australian A League at the end of January, has had a hot start to his RSL journey, scoring against San Diego and being involved in both goals last weekend in Houston. He spoke after practice on Friday about the need for players to adapt to the team’s needs.

“I’m familiar with most positions that we play,” said Piol. “Obviously my preferred position is striker but wherever the coach wants to put me and wants to play me I’m happy to play there and do a job for the team.”   

Dallas will also be missing some key players when they arrive in Utah, with starting goalkeeper (and 2024 MLS All Star) Maarten Paes on International Duty with Indonesia. 

But perhaps the player whose absence will be most disappointing to Real Salt Lake fans is forward Anderson Julio, who scored 25 goals in 111 matches for RSL, being traded to FC Dallas for left back Sam Junqua and General Allocation Money in the off season. Julio remains in Ecuador where he is working on getting his green card finalized, and will have to wait to face his former club.

Junqua will be playing against Dallas for the first time as a member of Real Salt Lake, and is looking forward to the challenge. 

“The team has changed quite a bit,” he said, “with a different coach but the core group of players is the same. They try to high-press and be dynamic, attack quickly, and that’s something we’ve prepared for all week. We need a quick start, we did that as well as we could have last game. We kept our composure when it got nervy and showed a lot of maturity there. We need to finish the game like we did when we had the lead in Houston.”  

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. MT at America First Field in Sandy, and fans in attendance will get a chance to meet and adopt rescue dogs as RSL hosts “Pups and Pros” night. Tickets are available here and the match will be broadcast on Apple TV+/MLS Season Pass.

For more Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals coverage, check out the Royal Riot Podcast, available on all major streaming platforms.