FC Dallas will look to return to its early-season form when the team travels to battle Real Salt Lake on Saturday night in a Western Conference match in Sandy, Utah.
The Toros (1-2-1, 4 points) head back to the road looking for answers after dropping two straight matches on their home pitch. Their most recent setback was a 1-0 loss to Vancouver last Saturday in a game in which Dallas did not manage a shot on goal.
“We had a lot of sloppiness and choppiness on offense, and we could never get any rhythm in the match,” Toros coach Eric Quill said. “We will probably tweak some things — anytime you drop two games, especially at home, you’ve got to look at what you are doing.”
With regular starter Maarten Paes on international duty, Saturday’s match will be the first-ever MLS start for 23-year-old homegrown Dallas goalkeeper Michael Collodi.
Collodi was born and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, played for FCD’s Academy as a teenager and starred for North Texas SC — FCD’s MLS NEXT Pro affiliate — after college at Columbia.
“Growing up in the academy, this has always been home,” Collodi told fcdallas.com. “It’s kind of what I’ve been looking forward to since I joined, so I’m happy to be able to make it happen. But I just can’t be happy with it — from here I’m gonna keep pushing forward.”
RSL (2-2-0, 6 points) heads home after a rousing 2-1 win at Houston last Saturday, with Diogo Goncalves and Diego Luna scoring goals late in the first half to help produce the team’s first win in the Bayou City since 2018.
“That wasn’t the final product by any stretch,” Real Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni said of the win in Houston. “It was three points at a very important time in the season for us. It’s always a lot easier from a coaching perspective to get really detailed and to demand more after a good result.”
RSL will be without offensive cogs Luna and Dominik Marczuk for Saturday’s match because of their call-ups to international action for the United States and Poland, respectively.
Luna scored the game winner against Houston last week, and the duo has accounted for three goal contributions in the five total goals scored for Salt Lake this season.
Dallas owns a 24-15 all-time edge against Real Salt Lake, with 13 draws. RSL earned points in both matches with the Toros last season, winning at home and drawing in North Texas.
–Field Level Media
