Gonçalves keys Real Salt Lake's 5th straight result with 2nd goal in 3 matches
Could RSL be the team no MLS club wants to play in the second half of the season?
Less than two months ago, Real Salt Lake was floundering, sputtering, spinning its wheels or any other idiom you might use for a team in chaos.
The club had just lost 2-0 to the previously winless LA Galaxy, which is off to a historically bad start in MLS play. That loss capped a run of seven consecutive matches without a win as Salt Lake tumbled down the Western Conference standings.
Life comes at you fast, and even faster in Major League Soccer.
Diogo Gonçalves scored for the second time in three matches to stretch Real Salt Lake’s unbeaten run to five-straight with a 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.
The win is RSL’s first at Portland the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, and the first in MLS play since 2017. It’s the first three-match winning streak since May 2024.
In clinching 13 of the last 15 points — many of which without U.S. international Diego Luna, who recently returned from the Concacaf Gold Cup — Salt Lake is quickly becoming the team nobody wants to play.
So what changed in a span of five matches? Certainly, competition plays into it. Each of RSL’s opponents during the run before Wednesday night finds itself outside the MLS playoff structure as it stands, and Salt Lake itself still finds it one point below the line (though eighth in points per game).
The Timbers, rated sixth in the West but with losses in three of their last four, also hadn’t lost a home match in 10 results at Providence Park.
So again, what changed?
“I haven’t really changed much,” said Gonçalves, who scored for the second time in three matches after just one goal in his first 15 MLS appearances of the year. “The goal is just to work as a team, and get the win. Nothing’s really changed much, besides getting the win for the team.”
Of course, that run can crumble in one evening Saturday night against FC Cincinnati (14-6-3, 45 points) that ranks second in the East. But for now, the good vibes remain.
But regardless of that result, Salt Lake is finding its footing.
“These are tough games,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said. “We have a team that is flying into Salt Lake, and the fans have been absolutely 10-out-of-10 in the last few games. We’ll need that.
“It’s a different thing when you’re rotating players when you are getting results. Everyone understands what’s at stake, and how important these games are. We’ll make a few changes to the group, but the expectations will continue to be the same.”
Gonçalves woke up a sleepy match with a stunner in the 83rd minute, finishing his second goal in three matches from the right side of the box to put the visitors up, 1-0.
After a touch by Zavier Gozo, Ariath Piol found the Portuguese winger in the edge of the area and Gonçalves found the back of the net for the third time this season to help keep Salt Lake’s five-match unbeaten streak alive.
Perhaps equal to Gonçalves and RSL’s run of form in the attack is its defense, a back line anchored by Justen Glad — who left Wednesday’s match after an inadvertent elbow to the head — and a goalkeeper in Rafael Cabral who picked up his first consecutive shutouts in MLS play.
“It’s a monumental feat come here, and keep them off the board,” Mastroeni said. “They’re a team that is really dynamic at home … It’s a credit to the guys to step up.”
LINEUPS
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Rafael Cabral ©; Bode Hidalgo, Justen Glad (Philip Quinton, 80’), Brayan Vera, Sam Junqua (Alexandros Katranis, 72’); Pablo Ruiz, (Emeka Eneli, 73’) Noel Caliskan; Diogo Gonçalves (Jesus Barea, 90+2’), Diego Luna (Dominik Marczuk, 90’); Zavier Gozo, William Agada (Ariath Piol, 73’)
Subs not used: Mason Stadjuhar, Johnny Russell, Griffon Dillion
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
Portland Timbers (5-4-1): Maxime Crepeau; Omir Fernandez (Ariel Lassiter, 55’), Dario Zuparic, Finn Surman, Jimer Fory, Juan Mosquera (Eric Miller, 71’); Diego Chara ©, David Ayala (Cristhian Paredes, 86’), Kevin Kelsy, Santiago Moreno; Felipe Mora (Gage Guerra, 71’)
Subs not used: Ian Smith, James Pantemis, Joao Ortiz
Head Coach: Phil Neville
Stats Summary: POR / RSL
Shots: 10 / 11
Shots on Goal: 2 / 4
Saves: 3 / 1
Corner Kicks: 9 / 2
Fouls: 9 / 11
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: Brayan Vera (Yellow Card - 45’)
RSL: Pablo Ruiz (Yellow Card - 52’)
RSL: Bode Hidalgo (Yellow Card - 67’)
POR: Felipe Mora (Yellow Card - 69’)
RSL: Rafael Cabral (Yellow Card - 90+8’)