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ST. LOUIS — The newest Real Salt Lake signing Matt Crooks debuted Saturday in the second half of a 1-1 tie with St. Louis and took just 10 minutes to earn his first assist on the team's first goal of the season.
It was just like the coaches drew it up, using multiple players in the center of the field to quickly move the ball and get into scoring position. Diego Luna hit a quick pass to Crooks, and the 6-foot-4 Englishman simply tapped it with the outside of his foot to find Chicho Arango in the box for a calm finish in the 74th minute to go up 1-0.
"I don't think I've trained with Diego or Chicho yet, so that was kind of my first time playing with the guys." Crooks said of the goal, showing just how new he is to RSL. "It just seemed to happen, I guess. Chicho was there and I played him the ball, and he did the rest. There wasn't much for me to do, it was all Chicho."
The goal was Chicho's 100th in his professional career, and he also became the fourth-fastest player in MLS history to reach 20 road goals.
Luna-Crooks-Chicho. 1-0 #RSL in the 74th pic.twitter.com/pB9c7nETe1
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) February 25, 2024
"I thought it was just all-around perfect execution," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said of the goal. "That's what it takes to score against a really staunch defense like St. Louis. I think on both sides of the ball we did a really good job controlling the majority of the important moments, and I think it's a very good performance to continue to build upon."
The home team at City Park didn't take long to respond, however, getting an equalizer just five minutes later on a nice run from substitute Samuel Adeniran to almost immediately extinguish the RSL flames of offensive inspiration.
The 1-1 draw was probably a fair result after the two teams were locked in a scoreless stalemate for 74 minutes. RSL, once again, struggled to find the finishing touch in front of the goal with just four shots on target from 14 total shots.
RSL did manage to control the ball, as coaches have stated is their objective, owning 60% of possession on the road, but failing to do much with it. The team concluded its opening trip with a loss at Miami and a draw in St. Louis as the Claret and Cobalt return to Utah for the home opener on March 2 against LAFC.
