SANDY, Utah — In a notable match at America First Field on Saturday, Diego Luna scored twice in quick succession, paving the way for Real Salt Lake’s 2-0 triumph over the Los Angeles Galaxy, the reigning champions.
Real Salt Lake, with a record of 3-4-0, took an early lead in the 21st minute. Defender Alexandros Katranis and Diogo Gonçalves collaborated to assist Luna in netting the opening goal. Just five minutes later, Luna doubled the lead with an unassisted strike, marking his third goal of the current season and his 16th for the club across 73 games spanning four seasons. Notably, this match marked Katranis’ first assist of the season and his sixth overall in 34 appearances, while it was the second assist of the season and third in 16 career games for Gonçalves.
At just 21 years and 210 days old, Luna has established himself as the youngest player in Real Salt Lake history to achieve the milestone of 15 goals and 15 assists during his career.
Rafael Cabral, the Real Salt Lake goalkeeper, ensured a clean sheet with a single save, made in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time from Tucker Lepley’s effort. This marked Cabral’s second shutout of the season in what is his inaugural year in the league.
Meanwhile, John McCarthy of the Galaxy had no saves to his name during the match, leaving Los Angeles with a record of 0-5-2. The Galaxy is grappling with a difficult season, missing key player Riqui Puig due to an ACL injury and having lost Dejan Jovelji?, a scorer of 19 goals last season, to Sporting Kansas City. This series of challenges has resulted in the worst season start for any defending champion in the league’s history.
Real Salt Lake had been on a goal drought, failing to score in five consecutive halves before Luna’s performance. Under the guidance of coach Pablo Mastroeni since August 2021, the team boasts a strong record of 37 wins, 6 losses, and 12 draws when scoring first in a match.
Looking ahead, the Galaxy is set to play against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, while Real Salt Lake will face Nashville SC away from home on the same day.