2nd half subs lead to RSL comeback in Kansas City draw

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New star striker Chicho Arango started Wednesday's game in Kansas City on the bench, but Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni made sure he was on the field to start the second half.

After leading the charge in a 4-0 home win over the weekend in his debut, Arango entered the match following 45 minutes of rest and assisted on his team's opening goal in the 46th minute.

Sporting KC held a 2-0 lead at halftime after withstanding a couple of promising early shots on goal from newcomer Nelson Palacio and Bryan Oviedo. Mastroeni brought on usual starters Arango, Pablo Ruiz and Diego Luna at the break to try and spark a run.

"I think we found a really good balance," Mastroeni said. "Pablo's distribution in the middle of the field and his bravery to get on the ball in really tight areas allowed us to move the ball closer and closer to their goal. Luna was good in tight spaces, and I thought Chicho, his quality in the build and in and around goal was fantastic."

The build-up began when Ruiz sent a long ball to Arango, who in turn found a streaking Danny Musovski mere seconds after taking the field for the second half. Musovski slotted home his fifth goal of the season and started RSL's furious road comeback.

This is the second half start we were wanting 🤩 pic.twitter.com/X6vry44ryM
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) July 13, 2023

"We have good chemistry and right away he was able to assist me two minutes into playing together again," Musovski said of Arango, his former teammate at LAFC. "Right after I scored I told him, 'That was fast.'"

Anderson Julio came on with 20 minutes left and continued his stellar scoring form off the bench with a goal in the 72nd minute to extend RSL's road unbeaten streak to eight matches in MLS play.

RSL earned a point on the road with the 2-2 draw to maintain its top-four spot in the Western Conference.

"There's not one player in that locker room that doesn't have the right mentality to compete in this league," Mastroeni said. "And so you couple that with quality and talent, with a resilient mindset, and you put us in a great position to be a great team in this league."

The team returns home Saturday to take on New York Red Bulls at America First Field at 7:30 p.m. MDT before taking a break from MLS play until Aug. 20 while the Leagues Cup tournament between MLS and Liga MX takes place.