Gold-medal effort: Diego Luna helps RSL keep pace atop West in 5-2 win over Atlanta

The 20-year-old U.S. youth international standout had a goal and an assist as Real Salt Lake topped Atlanta United, 5-2 to tie LAFC atop the Western Conference with 43 points.

Consider the bear sufficiently poked.

Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna could have been upset, mad, angry, disappointed, gloomy, downright pissed off — or all of the above — after news leaked out Saturday morning that he had been left off head coach Marko Mitrovic’s roster for the Paris Olympics this summer.

But he wasn’t. Or if he was, he didn’t show it.

Or maybe Saturday was a way for him to get all of those emotions.

Luna had a goal and three assists, and Chicho Arango tied Álvaro Saborío for the most goals in a single season in club history as Real Salt Lake cruised to a 5-2 win over Atlanta United in front of 20,396 fans Saturday night at America First Field.

Matt Crooks, Braian Ojeda and Alex Katranis also scored for RSL (12-3-7, 43 points) to keep pace with LAFC atop the Western Conference a day before the Angelenos’ road match at Houston.

But with respect to those plays, or the record-setting moment for Arango, the night belonged to the former Moon Boy-turned-Moon Man whose worth is well beyond any international call-up or 12 assists that ranks third across Major League Soccer.

“Decisions are made all around in soccer, different teams and different coaches,” Luna said about Mitrovic’s roster, which has yet to be fully revealed. “There’s nothing you can really can do about it. I’m grateful to be here and to be able to stay with RSL in this great run of form, to continue to do stuff like this.

“I’m happy, I’m focused, I’m here with RSL, and I’ll continue to work hard.”

Several hours after the news leak, the former U.S. youth international star who turns 21 in September put on a show in front of the fifth consecutive shutout in Sandy, Utah.

And what a show it was.

“I think it’s just poking the bear,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said of his rising midfield maestro who also has five goals. “He’s a player that plays with a chip on his shoulder. Tonight, particularly in the second half, he was doing a lot of selfless running … He put himself in the position to score goals. Credit to Diego for his endeavor, and his quality.

“Selfishly, for me and the rest of our team, we’ve got a top-caliber player who is going to be available for the next several games.”

Crooks taught season-ticket holders the cardinal role of season ticket-holding: Arrive early, or you might miss a goal just 43 . The 6-foot-4 Englishman gave Salt Lake the early lead with the fourth-fastest goal in club history, a finish from Luna that put the hosts up 1-0 in the first minute with just 43 seconds elapsed.

Saba Lobjanidze pulled one back for Atlanta en route to a 1-1 halftime stalemate. But Mastroeni made a pair of key subs at the break — replacing Philip Quinton with Andrew Brody on the back line and bringing in Nelson Palacio for ‘Iron Man’ Emeka Eneli — to push RSL’s attack forward.

And forward, it got.

“We came out with a lot of energy, but it felt like we became more uncomfortable as the game went on,” Arango said in Spanish. “The important thing was the reaction. We listened to Pablo, and we did exactly what he told us to do.”

Ojeda scored his second goal in as many matches, a turn and a spin that sent the go-ahead goal into the back of the net in the 59th minute.

Arango made history less than 10 minutes later, finishing a free kick from Luna with his head to score his 17th marker of the season — tying Saborío for the most goals in a season since 2012.

Katranis made it 4-1 moments later with a left-footed curler in the 78th minute on Luna’s third assist of the night.

Daniel Ríos scored two minutes later (with help from former RSL homegrown defender Brooks Lennon in his first match at the former Rio Tinto Stadium since 2019) to pull one back. But Luna finished off his moon shot of a night with a goal from Maikel Chang in the 84th minute to help RSL cruise to the win — and back into a tie atop the West on what could have otherwise been a disappointing day.

“I think it’s the same disappointment when you get news you don’t want to hear,” Luna said. “Everybody deals with it every day. But it’s all about how we react to those situations, and being able to be grateful here and continue to work for stuff like this.”