Real Salt Lake converted an 89th-minute winner from nearly 30 yards by newcomer Alex Katranis into a 2-1 victory on the road at Philadelphia Union on Saturday.

The win gives RSL six road points in back-to-back wins at Chicago and Philadelphia and extends the Claret-and-Cobalt unbeaten run to a League-high six matches, including five straight results away from home.

The first half-hour of play was quiet as neither team could manufacture consistent scoring chances, although captain Chicho Arango did have an early shot hit off the crossbar.

Real Salt Lake finally broke the stalemate in the 34th minute to claim a 1-0 lead, as Chicho tallied a League-leading 15th goal contribution on the season.

Arango carried possession forward in the midfield when an attempted tackle deflected the ball forward towards the box for Arango to sprint onto.

Spotting Gómez darting in from the right side, Arango laid it off for his Colombian teammate who took one touch and loaded up for a thunderous right-footed strike at the goalkeeper’s near post.

Gómez’s technique was so powerful that Blake could only get a piece of the shot, deflecting it upwards before falling across the line for an RSL goal.

The RSL lead wouldn’t last for long coming out of the half, as Philadelphia equalized in the 50th minute.

After winning the ball in the RSL half, Philadelphia counter-pressed with Dániel Gazdag charging towards the RSL goal from the left side. Then, a combination of Julián Carranza and Quinn Sullivan set up Jack McGlynn for a one-time shot on the left corner of the box.

The shot deflected off Gazdag and back out to Sullivan who promptly re-centered it for Gazdag, this time finishing into the far post with a back-heeled flick.

As the final whistle approached and a draw seemed ever-more likely, Real Salt Lake struck back to take a late lead in the 89th minute with a world-class strike from Katranis.

As a deep Maikel Chang free kick was headed up and out of the box in an attempt to clear by the Union defense, it fell directly to the left foot of Katranis.

From nearly 30 yards, Katranis controlled it with a beautiful first touch, reset his feet, and ripped a cross-body thunderbolt over a crowd of helpless Philadelphia defenders and into the back of the net.

Following seven minutes of stoppage time, Katranis’ strike would prove to be decisive.

RSL (5-2-3, 18 points, T-1st West) now returns how to host Kansas City at Amerca First Field in Sandy. That game is scheduled to take place on Friday, May 4, starting at 7:30 p.m. MT.

Utah Royals settle for draw with Houston

Both teams had chances but neither Utah nor Houston could break through, resulting in a scoreless draw in Saturday’s game at America First Field in Sandy.

The Royals had to clear a couple of Dash shots off the line in the first half, while Houston needed to push a Utah shot off the crossbar to prevent a goal.

The addition of former BYU star Breckin Mozingo as a substitute in the second half paid dividends for the Royals as they kept the ball in the attacking third and put a lot of pressure on the Dash. It did not, however, result in Utah cracking the Houston defense.

In the final minutes of stoppage time,

Houston started a counterattack after an unsuccessful Royals attack. After a Utah deflection the ball went out for a Houston throw-in, Royal’s head coach Amy Rodriguez appeared to pick up the ball and toss it away from the touchline. That earned Rodriguez a straight red card for delaying the match in the 90+5 minute.

Moments later the official whistle sounded, finalizing a 0-0 draw and keeper Mandy Haught’s first clean sheet with the Royals.

The Royals (1-4-1, 4 points 13th in NWSL) will remain home next week hosting Angel City FC in the second America First Field doubleheader weekend of the 2024 season. Tickets can be found at https://www.rsl.com/utahroyals/tickets.

Warriors hold on for big win over Old Glory

The Utah Warriors used a dominant start, securing all five points available in their win over visiting Old Glory DC 31-24 amidst rainy conditions at Zions Bank Stadium on Friday.

While the Warriors have somewhat struggled out of the gate during too many matches so far this season, Friday’s win proved very much the opposite.

“It was probably some of the best rugby I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” said Warriors coach Greg Cooper. “I thought we were clinical and our attack was really sharp. Thankfully the rain held off so we were able to play that type of rugby. I was very impressed with that first 20 minutes and generally for the entire first half.”

Frank Lochore started off the scoring for Utah in the ninth minute with Joel Hodgson adding a lengthy conversion kick for a 7-0 lead. About six minutes later Dylan Nel touched down the ball in the try zone by virtue of a successful maul deep inside DC territory which was set up by a long run-out by Caleb Makene.

Mika Kruse then scored a try in the 25th minute after an off-load from Joel Hodgson for a 21-0 lead following Hodgson’s third straight conversion kick from long distance.

“We had a really good week and we were really clear on what we wanted to do,” said Warriors scrum half Kieran McClea regarding Utah’s dominating start. “We got on our attack and we recycled the ball really well, and the boys were doing real well in the middle with reloading.”

Rain began to fall in earnest for the game’s final 30 minutes, which slowed down Utah’s attack considerably, along with some resilient play shown forth by DC.

The visiting team scored tries in the 61st, 69th and in the final minute to secure two bonus points on its way back to Washington D.C.

“We have to be better at playing in these conditions,” Cooper said. “They’re one of the best mauling teams in the competition, and we had to play some minutes a man down. We were a bit inaccurate in that second half, but I have to congratulate the guys and how they played with the quick turnaround.”

Utah improves to 4-4 on the season with the win and will next take on the Houston Sabercats on May 4 at Zions Bank Stadium. Old Glory DC drops to 2-4-2 with the loss.

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