Real Salt Lake heads to Texas looking to burn FC Dallas

SANDY, Utah (ABC4) — Real Salt Lake, fresh off a disappointing loss on the road to league leaders Vancouver Whitecaps, travels to Texas on Saturday to take on FC Dallas.

The last time these sides faced off was March 22 at FC Dallas at America First Field. FC Dallas eked out a 1-0 win in a match that turned early when RSL’s Ariath “Ari” Piol was red carded after a VAR review in the 23rd minute. Despite playing down a man, Real Salt Lake kept it competitive.

Goalkeeper Raphael “Rafa” Cabral denied leading Dallas goalscorer Lucho Acosta from the penalty spot, but he eventually broke through — rising highest in the seventh minute of first-half stoppage time to head a deflected cross into the net.

Like RSL, FC Dallas is also entering the weekend licking their wounds after a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of expansion side, San Diego FC, with the fifth goal coming from the right boot of former RSL homegrown player Milan Iloski.

Real Salt Lake will see a familiar face in Dallas in their former danger man, Anderson Julio. The Ecuadorian striker tallied 25 goals and six assists in 111 appearances with Real Salt Lake before being traded to Dallas for defender Sam Junqua. Julio missed the last fixture due to injury, so this will be his first time facing his former club, but he has scored two goals and an assist for Dallas.

RSL’s offense has received a jolt lately with the emergence of West Valley City native and RSL Academy product Zavier Gozo. A veteran of the U.S. U-20 National Team, despite only turning 18 a few weeks ago, Gozo has started the last two matches at right midfield after coming off the bench in the previous four.

Gozo has brought attacking verve, starting the press that eventually led to Diego Luna’s opener against San Diego, and he nearly won a penalty against Vancouver after going on a mazy run and being brought down in the box, only for VAR to overrule the on-field decision. Gozo has also threatened teams with sharp deliveries from wide areas.

“Gozo’s been working his tail off to put himself in position to play for this group,” commented Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni. “He’s making great strides on both sides of the ball, doing a really good job for us. An absolute team guy.”

The 18-year-old midfielder spoke after training about how grateful he is that Mastroeni and his coaching staff believe in him.

“They just want me to keep doing the right things,” Gozo said. “Keep defending, keep working hard. We’re playing great, we just have to pick our moments and be clinical. We’ve been working hard. We’ve been connecting our passes, we’ve been creating chances, we just need to put them away and continue what we’re doing defensively.”

Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The match will be broadcast live on Apple TV+ via MLS Season Pass.

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