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SANDY — Real Salt Lake played the Houston Dynamo for the second time this week Saturday and, once again, gave up three goals to the streaking Texas team.
This time, however, unlike Wednesday's Open Cup semifinal, the Claret and Cobalt couldn't even muster a goal of their own in front of the home fans at America First Field.
Former RSL forward Corey Baird opened the scoring for the Dynamo in the ninth minute and Houston never looked back, scoring again in the 29th and 75th minutes for a thorough whooping of the home team.
"I think the leftover from the midweek game was definitely there in the first few minutes," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "There were two goals that were so containable. I think the group lacks a little bit of confidence at the moment given the recent results."
RSL brought on a trio of attacking players in Diego Luna, Anderson Julio and Rubio Rubin following a weather delay in the 60th minute, but even super-sub Julio couldn't replicate his magic from earlier in the week when he scored RSL's only goal.
The home team had most of the possession and 11 shots on the night, but only one of those shots made it on frame. Meanwhile, the Dynamo were "killers in front of goal," as Mastroeni described an opponent earlier this season, putting four of their six shots on goal and scoring three of those.
Rain and a 2-0 deficit more than enough reason for people to head for the exits early in the second half apparently #RSLpic.twitter.com/ls25iJiuXI
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) August 27, 2023
The lineup was significantly different from Wednesday's match for RSL, with recent signing Nelson Palacio getting his first extended minutes in Utah. The lack of tenacity and chemistry in the midfield in the continued absence of the injured Pablo Ruiz was more than apparent, however, as RSL struggled to get the ball upfield to its forwards in good positions.
The Claret and Cobalt have a quick turnaround, and another opportunity to bounce back with a road trip to rival Portland — who currently sits in the bottom three in the West — on Aug. 30
"Now it's working our way back into the group that we've been all season," Mastroeni said. "And that's a challenge for us."
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