Prized winger Andres Gomez makes debut as RSL ties 1-1 with Sacramento

SALT LAKE CITY — The most expensive acquisition in Real Salt Lake history made his on-field debut on Saturday in preseason action, almost a month to the day since signing with the club in early January.

Colombian winger Andres Gomez was subbed on with a large contingent of mostly starting-caliber players around the 61-minute mark against USL side Sacramento Republic on Saturday, with RSL up 1-0 after an early goal from another newcomer — defender Delentz Pierre — in the seventh minute.

RSL conceded a goal to Sacramento in the 84th minute to finish the night with a draw, but not before Gomez got his first crack at goal in Claret and Cobalt. A save by Zac MacMath led to a counter-attack by midfielder Pablo Ruiz finding Anderson Julio on the wing, who in turn got the ball to Gomez at the far post.

Gomez was denied the game-winner by a save from the Sacramento keeper but still got on the stat sheet in his debut with a shot on goal. Rubio Rubin was the other bright spot offensively for RSL Saturday, registering at least four shots to pace the attack.

"I thought he had a lot of good actions on both sides of the ball, leading the press defensively," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said of Rubin. "Helping us in the build, holding the ball up, bringing the team forward, and also running in behind. That's something that we've been stressing and executed perfectly.

"And, unfortunately for Rubio tonight, just the finishing pieces kind of left him short. So we'll continue to do the same things and hopefully the ball just bounces his way."

Rubin has been a constant lightning rod for praise throughout the preseason for RSL. Starting the season healthy after a delayed start to 2022 and expanded opportunities with Sergio Cordova absent from the striker position have certainly helped the 26-year-old out of Oregon stand out and prove his value in a squad desperate for goals.

"What I've seen in this preseason is that the ideas and the concepts that we've been working on are being seen on the field against different opponents," Mastroeni said. "The understanding of where space is and how to exploit it has been there for all three games. I think it's a good benchmark to keep building on, but we just want to get better in all phases of the game."

Related topics