Chicho's second-half hat trick rallies RSL to 3-1 comeback win over St. Louis
Chicho's second-half hat trick rallies RSL to 3-1 comeback win over St. Louis
Chicho Arango scored three second-half goals to lift RSL to a 3-1 win over St. Louis City SC in front of an announced crowd of 19,357 fans in Sandy, Utah.
SANDY, Utah — Real Salt Lake is making a habit of Comeback Wins.
One week after overturning a 1-0 halftime deficit for a 2-1 win in Vancouver, Chicho Arango scored three second-half goals to lift RSL to a 3-1 win over St. Louis City SC in front of an announced crowd of 19,357 fans at America First Field in Sandy, Utah.
Diego Luna and Alex Katranis each had an assist for RSL (3-2-1, 10 points) to vault into a tie for second place in the Western Conference.
Arango’s three goals scored in a single match marks RSL’s first hat trick since Damir Kreilach in 2018, and the seventh hat trick in the history of the club.
The $6 million striker joins a historic list of hat trick heroes in club history:
Jason Kreis — July 13, 2005
Robbie Findley — April 2, 2009
Alvaro Saborio — July 7, 2012
Javier Morales — May 11, 2014
Damir Kreilach — Sept. 1, 2018
Add Arango’s name to the list, under March 30, 2024, as RSL turned around a third-minute deficit into a dominant home win.
“Chicho’s quality really shined through tonight,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said after the match. “When you commit to the defensive side of the ball, the Soccer Gods will reward you with some fantastic opportunities. I think he took them tonight. The first goal he scored was world-class, from a tough angle, a really good ball against a really good goalkeeper.
“He’s the driving force in everything we do with this group. He’s the monster during training. He sets the tone on both sides of the ball.”
Check out post-match reaction from RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni and FW Chicho Arango on the Salt City FC YouTube channel.
Indiana Vassilev gave the visitors a 1-0 lead less than three minutes in, sliding a shot through traffic inside the far post for an advantage that would hold through halftime.
RSL seemingly equalized in the 13th minute, but Anderson Julio’s goal was judged offside as the hosts maintained 57% of possession with five shots, two corner kicks and four offsides penalties before the break.
Following a pair of international absences, Andres Gomez (Colombia) and Diego Luna (USA) both came on early in the second half for RSL. Two minutes after the latter — Luna replacing Matt Crooks in the 67th minute — Arango pulled the hosts even with a sparkling blast from the top of the box.
The goal, set up by Katranis for the former Greek youth international’s second goal contribution in a Salt Lake uniform, finished inside the near post to level the match at a goal apiece.
Arango converted RSL’s second goal from the penalty spot, shortly after Chris Durkin committed a foul for a handball in the area in the 81st minute.
“Pablo told us, the first goal is coming. When we get the first goal, let’s look for the second,” Arango said in Spanish following the match. “I just had to be positive, and the fans carried us to search for another goal and another goal.”
Luna nearly followed it up two minutes later, but his one-touch rebound after Roman Buerki’s initial save sailed high over the crossbar in the 88th minute.
Instead, Arango finished the hat trick at the start of 13 minutes of stoppage time, taking a hard-won ball from Luna and finishing off his right boot to give RSL the 3-1 advantage in the first minute of stoppage time.