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SANDY — Real Salt Lake had a bye week looking to improve upon a pair of early-season losses, but all the preparation wasn't able to stop the red hot St. Louis expansion side from claiming its fifth straight win to start its inaugural season in MLS.
St. Louis won 4-0 at America First Field on Saturday night.
It's just the second time in MLS history a team has started the season 5-0, and the first since Sporting KC started 7-0 in 2012.
RSL was able to keep a clean sheet through 45 minutes, but the floodgates opened for St. Louis in the 47th minute when Nicholas Gioacchini got on the end of a corner kick and opened the scoring for the away team. Brazilian striker Joao Klauss got a brace in just six minutes to extend the lead to 3-0 by the 66th minute, and Rasmus Alm slammed the door shut in the 76th minute.
"Obviously, disappointing," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "I think our biggest issue is not being able to put the ball into the back of the net, and you can only defend for so long without capitalizing on those moments, because those moments change games."
Saturday marked the first non-sellout at home since 2021 for RSL, and the energy was hard to come by on a sub-freezing evening in Sandy. A flurry of chances late in the first half gave the home team a lead in expected goals at halftime, but RSL was unable to turn any of its eight shots on target Saturday into a point on the scoreboard.
Mastroeni repeatedly mentioned the need for more goals by his team after the game, with just three goals scored through four games to start the season. Defender Justen Glad has two of those goals and Damir Kreilach has the other.
Stalwart center back Marcelo Silva missed Saturday due to injury, thrusting newcomer Brayan Vera into the starting lineup for his first appearance with RSL. Draft pick and recent signee Emeka Eneli also started on the back line, and the lack of experience on the defensive side clearly gave way to a merciless St. Louis attack.
At least 13 minutes left in the game but these #RSL fans have seen enough https://t.co/ofWNWliuxupic.twitter.com/c97nCc7HX2
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) March 26, 2023
"We're only four games into the season, and it's a very, very long season," Eneli said. "I know, maybe some of the results haven't gone our way, but I know the type of players that we have in the locker room, the type of coach we have, and the culture that they foster around us. Even if we get knocked down, we're always gonna come back and fight even harder."
RSL will look to get back on track next Saturday on the road against Columbus Crew at 5:30 p.m. MDT on MLS Season Pass.
