Real Salt Lake completes its two-step with Major League Soccer’s two Texas clubs on Saturday when FC Dallas visits Rio Tinto Stadium for the second time in five weeks.
After posting a 1-0 victory over the Supporters’ Shield leaders in August, RSL is hoping to rekindle some of that intensity this time around, particularly after dropping an uninspired 1-0 defeat to the Houston Dynamo last week.
“We’ve got to put that game behind us and move on,” RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar said on the O’Connell and Swinney Show on ESPN 700 on Wednesday. “We need to play with the urgency that each of these games is a playoff game. We want to have that same mentality going into the playoffs. I think we have had that and it was a minor setback against Houston.”
In Dallas, RSL will have a formidable opponent. Led by Head Coach Oscar Pareja, Dallas has led the Western Conference for virtually the whole season and now sits on 52 points at 15-8-7 and is the lone team to have clinched a playoff spot with five weeks left in the regular season.
With an attacking core that includes playmaker Mauro Diaz with five goals and 11 assists, forward Maxi Urruti with eight goals and four assists and winger Michael Barrios leading the scoring charge with nine goals and two assists. At the same time, the back four of Ryan Hollingshead, Matt Hedges, Walker Zimmerman and Maynor Figueroa has anchored one of the staunchest defenses in the league.
“There’s a reason why they’re in first. It’s not one thing why they’re successful,” Cassar said. “Every time they step on the field they’re ultra-competitive. They’re a very, very solid team.”
Yet still, RSL was able to pull out a victory over Dallas just over a month ago. It was in the midst of a strong swing of games for RSL and in an intense match that swung on a late goal from Jamison Olave. It will take a similar performance and mentality for Salt Lake to repeat the outcome of the August 20 match.
“It took every bit of us playing to our potential to beat them. We had a very good game plan and the guys really played an exceptional game for 90-plus minutes,” Cassar said. “That’s what it’s going to take again on Saturday.”
For more of Cassar’s interview, click here.
