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SANDY — Fresh off a huge midweek victory in Open Cup play, Real Salt Lake returns to Major League Soccer action Saturday night as it hosts Eastern Conference opponent the Houston Dynamo for the first and only meeting this regular season.
“Going to be a really tough challenge for us,” RSL defender Chris Wingert told ESPN 700 Friday. “(Houston) is a team that’s going to be hard to defend, that’s going to be great on set pieces and a team that knows how to win and has a lot of experience in doing so. Another tough challenge for us as there’s going to be a bunch of those this month, but we’re not looking past (Saturday) night. We need to get back on track here in league play and keep earning points, so hopefully we’re going to be able to do that tomorrow.”
The two sides have seen each other for a total of 17 meetings in the past, and Houston has taken the majority of the wins overall with nine while the Salt Lake club has three — all within the walls of its fortress of Rio Tinto Stadium — and both sides drawing five times, four of which were on the Salt Lake club’s pitch.
The match will be the third in eight days for the Salt Lake club, previously playing at home Wednesday in Open Cup play against the Portland Timbers and last weekend in Colorado against the Rapids.
RSL enters the match sitting atop the MLS Western Conference with an 11-7-5 record on the season and 38 points, just three points above the Colorado Rapids and the Portland Timbers, who are tied for the second slot.
Houston comes into the match in the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference with a 9-6-6 record and 33 points — coming off a 3-1 home win over the Columbus Crew. The Dynamo also sit on a current four-game unbeaten streak with three of the games resulting in a win.
The match will see the MLS return of defenders Wingert and Tony Beltran, who have both been on suspension — Wingert for two games following a red card earned at home against Sporting Kansas City and Beltran for one following a red card earned June 29 in Toronto before leaving for international duty for the month of July.
The Claret and Cobalt will also be without midfielder Yordany Alvarez, who will serve the second of his three-game suspension from the MLS disciplinary committee for a dangerous tackle July 27 in New York on midfielder Tim Cahill.
Following Saturday’s match, the Salt Lake club will return to the road for two weeks to face the Los Angeles Galaxy Aug. 17 and the Timbers again Aug. 21. RSL will finish out the month of August with a two-game home stand hosting the Columbus Crew Aug. 24 and the Timbers Aug. 30. Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
