KANSAS CITY, Kansas (Saturday, June 28, 2025) – Real Salt Lake (5-10-4, 19 points, 13th West) was unable to capitalize on scoring first yet again at Sporting Kansas City (5-10-5, 20 points, 12th West), settling for a 1-1 road draw despite a late KC red card in the second half. The Claret-and-Cobalt now head back to Utah for seven of its next eight games at home from next Saturday, July 5, through August 6.
RSL boss Pablo Mastroeni made one change to the starting XI from the 2-0 home victory against D.C. United on June 14, bringing defender Sam Junqua in for Colombian defender Brayan Vera. Two RSL Academy products started today, defender Justen Glad and 18-year-old forward Zavier Gozo with homegrown defender Bode Hidalgo available off of the bench.\\ Newly minted green-card holder, Noel Caliskan also made his eighth consecutive start of the 2025 campaign.
For the first time since being traded to Real Salt Lake, both forward William Agada and midfielder Johnny Russell returned to face their former club, joined the starting XI in the homecoming visit to Children’s Mercy Park.
Sporting Kansas City came out on the front foot, finding space early and putting Real Salt Lake’s defense under immediate pressure. The back line of Junqua, Glad, Caliskan and Alex Katranis were quickly forced to stay organized and work in tandem with the midfield to cut out a series of dangerous through balls. Despite the early pressure, RSL nearly struck first in the fifth minute, when midfielder Nelson Palacio unleashed a powerful shot that slid just wide, marking the team’s first real chance on goal.
Goalkeeper Rafael Cabral played a key role in keeping the visitors in the match midway through the first half, making several outstanding saves to help preserve RSL’s clean sheet heading into the break. Real Salt Lake built its attack from the back, consistently applying pressure on Kansas City’s defense. In first-half stoppage time, RSL once again worked the ball upfield, ultimately finding Katranis, who delivered a perfectly-placed cross that found the head of Russell, scoring against the team he once captained and giving RSL a crucial 1-0 lead heading into the break.
As the second half started, both teams traded taking opportunities in the offensive end, with one from Sporting KC paying off in the 59th minute, leading to a goal ultimately tying the match at 1-1. After the goal, Mastroeni opted to make a substitution, bringing on midfielder Dominik Marczuk - freshly back from his stint with the Polish National Team - and striker Ari Piol, bringing an end to the night for Russell and Agada.
In the 81st minute, the momentum swung in favor of RSL, with Jake Davis of Sporting KC being shown his second yellow card of the match, resulting in an advantage of one extra RSL man on the pitch for the remainder of the match.
Despite creating several late chances and testing the goalkeeper with multiple shots on target, Real Salt Lake couldn’t find the breakthrough in the closing minutes, ultimately settling for a single road point.
The Claret-and-Cobalt return home for a jam-packed July, playing five of its six matches of the month at America First Field, aiming to capitalize on home-field advantage during a crucial stretch of the season. RSL will now host St. Louis City SC Saturday July 5, Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM MT. Tickets are available for purchase here.
GOAL SCORING SUMMARY:
RSL: Johnny Russell (Alex Katranis) 45+1’: After making a play downfield, Katranis received the ball just outside the box and sent a perfectly placed left footed cross for Russell to run onto, heading the ball into the back of the net.
SKC: Erik Tommy (Manu Garcia) 59’: Tommy found himself in the right place after a deflection from his own player. Taking a right footed shot just outside the box into the right corner of the goal.
NOTES FROM SKC 1 : 1 RSL
- Johnny Russell’s goal marked his second in an RSL uniform and his second in as many matches, both his first two starts with RSL.
- RSL now moves to 39-8-15 (W-L-T) when scoring first during the Pablo Mastroeni era, something it’s done in 12 of 21 games across all competitions this season
- The draw gives RSL back-to-back points for just the second time this year, now capturing four in the last two games; back in May, RSL earned consecutive draws at Dallas and at home against Portland
- RSL earned the road point without Diego Luna (USA), Captain Emeka Eneli (foot), Braian Ojeda (green card acquisition) and Brayan Vera (illness); both Vera and Ojeda are expected back for next week’s home match against St. Louis, with Luna’s availability dependent on the U.S. Gold Cup performance Sunday against Costa Rica in Minneapolis.
LINEUPS:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Rafael Cabral ©; Noel Caliskan, Justen Glad, Sam Junqua, Alexandros Katranis (Philip Quinton, 85’); Nelson Palacio, Pablo Ruiz (Jesús Barea, 89’); Johnny Russell (Dominik Marczuk, 65’), Diogo Gonçalves, Zavier Gozo; William Agada (Ari Piol, 65’)
Subs not used: Mason Stadjuhar, Bode Hidalgo, Kobi Henry, Brayan Vera, Lachlan Brook
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
Sporting Kansas City (4-3-3): John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton, Tim Leibold (Logan Ndenbe, 46’), Ian James, Jansen Miller; Erik Thommy © (Andrew Brody 89’), Memo Rodriguez (Jake Davis, 59’), Jacob Bartlett, Manu GarcÃa, Daniel Salloi (Shapi Suleymanov, 46’); Santiago Munoz
Subs not used: Dejan Joveljic, Mason Toye, Stephen Afrifa, Ryan Schewe
Head Coach: Kenny Zavagnin
Stats Summary: SKC / RSL
Shots: 13 / 20
Shots on Goal: 5 / 9
Saves: 7 / 4
Corner Kicks: 6 / 3
Fouls: 10 / 15
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
SKC: Daniel Salloi (Yellow Card - 24’)
SKC: Tim Leibold (Yellow Card - 35’)
SKC: Jacob Bartlett (Yellow Card - 43’)
SKC: Memo Rodriguez (Yellow Card - 50’)
RSL: Nelson Palacio (Yellow Card - 52’)
RSL: Xavier Gozo (Yellow Card - 70’)
SKC: Jake Davis (Yellow Card - 71’)
RSL: Pablo Ruiz (Yellow Card - 74’)
SKC: Jake Davis (Yellow Card - 83’)
SKC: Jake Davis (Red Card - 83’)
