Real Salt Lake seek their first four-match winning streak since June 2013 when they visit San Diego FC on Sunday night.
Real Salt Lake (3-1-0, 9 points) were blanked while losing their season opener against the Vancouver Whitecaps before scoring seven goals during the three consecutive wins.
RSL notched a 2-1 home victory over Austin FC last weekend when midfielder Stijn Spierings made his MLS debut in the 81st minute and scored the decisive goal seven minutes later.
The 30-year-old Dutchman was itching to get into the match before he became the difference-maker.
“During the second half, I was like, ‘C’mon, bring me on. I want to play and I want to have fun on the pitch with my teammates.'”
No need to worry there as RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni was on the same page and was looking to get Spierings into the match.
“It’s always a tough thing bringing a player into a group that’s on a good run,” Mastroeni said. “Obviously, we brought Stijn here because he’s got amazing qualities that will help our group. We definitely want to give him minutes.”
Star midfielder Diego Luna also scored for RSL. The 22-year-old Luna missed the first three games due to a knee injury.
San Diego FC (3-0-1, 10 points) outscored their first four MLS opponents 11-3.
But things didn’t go so well against Mexican side Toluca FC in Concacaf Champions Cup play. San Diego lost 4-0 on Wednesday for a 6-3 aggregate defeat.
Forward Marcus Ingvartsen expects a turnaround on the home pitch against RSL.
“We need to believe in ourselves,” Ingvartsen said. “We have such a good feeling when we step on the field here at home.”
In its most-recent MLS match, San Diego played to a 3-3 road tie against FC Dallas. San Diego let a 2-0 lead get away and FC Dallas scored the equalizer in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time.
Ingvartsen scored on a penalty kick while midfielder Onni Valakari scored the other two San Diego goals.
Now San Diego matches up against an RSL squad that is thriving.
“I think we’re going to play a team that wants to play a little bit with the ball so we’ll be ready for that,” Ingvartsen said.
The squads split two matches last season. Each team won on the road by a 3-1 score. Luna had two goals in RSL’s win in San Diego, while Ingvartsen had a goal in San Diego’s win at Sandy, Utah.
–Field Level Media
