America First Field, Sandy, UT – On a night that could have seen a lot more goals RSL takes all 3 points against Houston tonight at America First Field. Houston started the scoring early with a goal from Ibrahim Aliyu and it took a goal from Andres Gomez in the 22nd minute to level the score and RSL never trailed the rest of the match. The affair seemed up in the air at times with Deigo Luna putting his club on top before the half but a second half own goal from Andrew Brody leveled the score again. The game winner was scored in the 67th minute by Braian Ojeda and RSL walks away with all the points.
The match started off on an ominous note with RSL conceding and early goal in just the 8th minute from Ibrahim Aliyu to put themselves at a disadvantage early in the match. The Houston lead would not last long when Andres Gomez got behind the defenders and beat Steve Clark to level the match. The Claret and Cobalt kept pushing and pulled ahead in the 42nd minute when Diego Luna took a shot from distance and put his club on top as they headed for the locker rooms.
RSL had plenty of chances in the second half but it was Houston that added to their tally first on and own goal from Andrew Brody to once again level the score. It was Braian Ojeda who finally put his club on top for good in the 67th minute but there were many tense minutes before the match ended.
RSL dominated the stats tonight and will need to take better care of the ball if they want to keep up their form in the second half of the season. This win puts RSL in a three-way tie for first in the West. Chicho returned tonight as a starter after his head injury last match but he did exit the match in second half stoppage time. Real Salt Lake stays at home this Saturday when Atlanta United visits America First Field at 7:30 PM.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 2 1 3
Houston Dynamo 1 1 2
Scoring Summary
HOU – Ibrahim Aliyu – 8′
RSL – Andres Gomez – 22′
RSL – Diego Luna – 42′
HOU – Andrew Brody – 55′ (Own Goal)
RSL – Brain Ojeda – 67′
Misconduct Summary
HOU – Latif Blessing – 5′ – foul
RSL – Braian Ojeda – 78′ – foul
RSL – Emeka Eneli – 90’+2′ – foul
Officials
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referee: Jeremy Hanson
Assistant Referee: Eric Weisbrad
4th Official: Brandon Stevis
Video Assistant Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert
Attendence: XXX
Lineups
Real Salt Lake: Zac MacMath; Andrew Brody; Bryan Oviedo (Philip Quinton, 90’+3′); Bode Hidalgo; Alexandros Katranis; Braian Ojeda; Diego Luna (Anderson Julio, 84′); Andres Gomez; Emeka Eneli; Matt Crooks (Maikel Chang, 84′); Chico (Nelson Palacio, 90’+2′)
Substitutes Not Used: Tommy Silva; Gavin Beavers; Daron Iskenderian; Zavier Gozo; Noel Caliskan
Head Coach: Pablo Masteroeni
Houston Dynamo: Steve Clark; Franco Escobar; Griffin Dorsey; Erik Sviatchenko (Tate Schmitt, 88′); Micael dos Santos; Artur; Latif Blessing (Sebastian Ferreira, 46′); Hector Herrera; Ibrahim Aliyu (Gabe Segal, 87′); Amine Bassi; Sebastion Kowalcyzk (Brad Smith, 75′)
Substitutes Not Used: Ethan Bartlow; Andrew Tarbell; Jan Gregus; Brooklyn Raines
Head Coach: Ben Olsen