Real Salt Lake picked up a wild 3-2 at home over Houston. The Dynamo scored first but RSL's relentless high pressure forced multiple giveaways in dangerous spots and RSL created multiple chances. In the first half Chicho Arango bounced a header off the ground and over the bar and hit the crossbar. In the second half Andres Gomez had a ball cleared off the line, Emeka Eneli missed an open goal and Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark came off his line to stop both Matt Crooks and Chicho in one on one situations right in front of goal. In this edition of Talkin' Real Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni explains why creating the chances was the key to the win and the tactical adjustment that enabled Gomez to score the team's first goal.
Also, we look ahead to the one thing RSL has to do to beat an Atlanta team that should be tired and probably has to heavily rotate it's starting XI.
The Utah Royals are in last place in the NWSL with the fewest wins (2 tied with Seattle), fewest goals (7) and fewest points (8). The Royals have been shut out 9 times in the first 15 games, so they are shaking things up. The team President Michelle Hyncik was reassigned, and head coach Amy Rodriguez was relieved of her duties. The Royals held a press conference where General Manager Kelly Cousins addressed several key questions including, did Amy Rodriguez have input in player selection and was there enough talent on the roster to win. Critically, is there enough elite attacking talent to score goals? Cousins short answers are yes, she did, yes there is, and she thinks so. Her longer answers are here in this edition of Talkin' Real
The Utah Royals are back in action Sunday at Seattle. The Reign are in next to last place, just two points in front of the Royals so Utah escaped the cellar with a victory. Watch the game Sunday at 4pm on KMYU.
Real Salt Lake is back in action Saturday night at 7:30 at home versus Atlanta. This is the fifth meeting between the clubs and RSL is 1-3 all-time vs Atlanta United and 1-1 at home.