Toronto FC haven’t defeated Real Salt Lake in the state of Utah in nearly 18 years.
Real Salt Lake are 10-0-2 at home against Toronto FC since losing their first-ever meeting and look to add another victory to the ledger when the two squads meet on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah.
Toronto posted a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on July 4, 2007 in a match played on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City. Since then, RSL have dominated at home with the unbeaten streak that includes a victory in the 2010 CONCACAF Champions League.
“It’s a tough place to play,” first-year Toronto coach Robin Fraser said. “They historically play well there. Over the years, the results haven’t been good (for Toronto) there because it is a tough place.”
The results haven’t been good anywhere for Toronto FC (0-4-4, 4 points) so far this season.
Toronto went 0-4-1 over its first five matches before playing to three straight draws. Last week, the club played to a scoreless tie at home against Minnesota United.
Toronto’s Deandre Kerr will miss his third straight game due to an ankle injury. He is tied for the team lead of two goals with Federico Bernardeschi. Fraser expects Kerr to miss at least one more month.
Real Salt Lake (3-5-0, 9 points) have dropped three of their past four matches.
Last week’s result was painful as Nashville’s Sam Surridge scored the decisive goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to send visiting Salt Lake to a 2-1 defeat.
Standout Diego Luna (team-best three goals) sees an improving team that has yet to fully find its stride.
“We’re playing well,” Luna said. “The team is getting better, we’re growing, the chemistry is building but there are little things that need to be fixed to put it all together.”
Said RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni: “We’ve made some good strides in the last couple weeks and played some good stuff in the last game. There’s some moments of naivete a bit that we want to make sure we dial in.”
Salt Lake defender Javain Brown is done for the season after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair a torn ACL as well as meniscus damage in his left knee. Brown hurt the knee during a practice session.
–Field Level Media
