Real Salt Lake will aim for their third consecutive victory on Saturday night when they host the Houston Dynamo, who are playing their third game in seven days.

Real Salt Lake had nearly a week to prepare for Houston after a 2-1 upset victory at CF Montreal on Sunday.

After conceding in the opening minute, RSL (6-3-4, 22 points) got even on Justen Glad’s corner-kick header early in the second half and took the lead on Sergio Cordova’s low finish in the 66th minute.

That score would hold, lifting RSL to fourth in the Western Conference standings entering the weekend.

“We went in at halftime and the halftime speech was just ‘Keep doing what we’re doing. Keep playing,'” Glad said. “We’re going to get our chances. If we stay solid in the back, we’re going to have a good shot at this game. I’m incredibly proud of the group. We showed a lot of fight out there and it’s a huge three points.”

Salt Lake remains without last year’s leading scorer Damir Kreilach (back). Recently re-signed winger Anderson Julio (hamstring) is questionable.

But Jefferson Savarino could make his competitive return. He was signed from reigning Brazilian league champions Atletico Mineiro earlier this month and scored 21 goals in a previous three-season stint at RSL from 2017-19.

Houston (5-5-3, 18 points) could use reinforcements of their own for the finale of a three-game, seven-day road trip that might be their most grueling stretch.

It began brilliantly with a 3-0 victory Sunday at the Los Angeles Galaxy. But then Paulo Nagamura rotated his squad heavily in the U.S. Open Cup and the club ultimately fell 2-1 to Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday in their Round of 16 clash.

“There are a lot of things that we can take as a positive,” Nagamura said. “As of now, it’s about assessing the players, making sure they are recovering. (There’s) not much we can do with so many games in a short period.”

Sebastian Ferreira scored his fifth goal of the league campaign against the Galaxy, tied with Darwin Quintero for most on the team. He was left out of the squad at Kansas City.

Houston is mostly healthy, although defender Zarek Valentin is in health and safety protocol.

–Field Level Media

A short-handed Sporting Kansas City club will host the Vancouver Whitecaps Saturday night in a meeting of the two clubs at the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

Sporting KC (3-7-4, 13 points) has started to gain some momentum, going 3-1-4 over their last eight matches in all competitions. Two of those wins have come in U.S. Open Cup play, but for Sporting manager Peter Vermes, all competitions are important and he doesn’t make much of a distinction.

The outlier was a 7-2 loss at Portland May 14, but Sporting has not lost since. Despite missing two of their top offensive playmakers to injury, and others missing action because of national team assignments and suspensions for card accumulation, things seem to be turning slightly.

Just don’t expect Vermes to paint a rosy picture.

“The guys have been a great job of dealing with (the absences) and finding a way, week after week,” Vermes said. “There really is no continuity at the moment. But the guys have embraced the challenge. It’s a team challenge, but it’s individual challenges as well, because we’re playing guys in positions they wouldn’t normally play. The group’s mentality around that has been top-class.”

Sporting again will be without Daniel Salloi, who received a suspension of one additional match for “violent conduct” that earned him a red card May 18 against the Colorado Rapids.

Vancouver (3-7-2, 11 points) has been gathering steam as well, going 3-1-2 in all competitions in May. They defeated Cavalry FC on PKs in Canadian Championship competition Wednesday. In their last MLS match, they fell 2-1 to Charlotte.

Tosaint Ricketts scored his second goal of the season in the second minute of play. Charlotte scored six minutes later to even the match. Charlotte then scored the deciding goal in the 85th minute.

“It was just some very bad luck at the end,” head coach Vanni Sartini said after the match. “We didn’t deserve to lose. We fought against a lot of obstacles in this game, with a lot of players out because of COVID. We put on a very good game.”

–Field Level Media

The Colorado Rapids can continue a historic streak at home Saturday night in Commerce City, Colo., when they host Nashville SC for the first ever meeting between the clubs.

Nashville (5-4-4, 19 points) sits in sixth place in the Western Conference and is the only team in the West with a goal differential of zero. The club has scored 15 goals and allowed the same amount.

The Rapids (5-5-3, 18 points) are right behind Nashville, and are undefeated at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park this season with five wins and two draws. With their 1-0 win over Seattle on Sunday, Colorado’s unbeaten run at home is up to 23 regular-season games (14 wins and nine draws), which is tied for the fourth-longest streak in MLS history.

Colorado can tie the third-longest streak in league history — 24 games without a loss — if it wins or ties on Saturday.

Nashville is set to play its 10th road game of the season, out of 14 total matches, after its new stadium opened weeks into the regular season and necessitated road games early on.

The Tennessee club has lost only two of its last nine MLS matches (4-2-3 record). Nashville has scored twice in each of its last two matches, something the franchise has never done in three straight MLS games, including the playoffs.

According to MLS, Colorado is the only team in the league that has not scored or conceded a goal in the opening 15 minutes of a match in 2022. The Rapids lead the league with six goals between the 16th and 30th minutes.

Nashville is coming off a tight U.S. Open Cup win earlier in the week to advance to the tournament quarterfinals. Hany Mukhtar, who’s tied for the team lead with four goals in MLS action, scored in the 89th minute for a 2-1 win over Louisville City FC.

“I’m looking at the clock and knowing we’ve got a game at the weekend (in MLS),” Nashville coach Gary Smith said. “The goal scored in the final minute was a real relief.”

Colorado coach Robin Fraser reached 50 wins as an MLS boss with his team’s win over Seattle.

“The biggest thing that that means to me, honestly, is that I look back at the time I’ve spent here, and how much I’ve enjoyed it,” Fraser told the team website.

Diego Rubio leads the Rapids with six goals this year.

–Field Level Media

New York City FC will try to become just the fourth team in MLS history to record six consecutive shutouts when they face Minnesota United on Saturday night at Saint Paul, Minn.

NYCFC, the defending MLS Cup champions, tied a club record with their fifth consecutive shutout in a 1-0 victory over the visiting Chicago Fire on Sunday and have allowed one total shot on goal over the last three games.

Goalkeeper Sean Johnson, called into U.S. men’s national team camp on Friday, leads MLS with seven shutouts.

NYCFC (7-3-2, 23 points) hasn’t allowed a goal in MLS action since April 24 when they defeated Toronto FC 5-4 in a home game at Citi Field.

Brazilian striker Heber scored on a penalty kick in the 23rd minute for the lone goal in Sunday’s win over Chicago. Johnson finished with one save.

“Defensively it was very good,” NYCFC coach Ronny Deila said. “Everybody was organized, and we didn’t give away anything.”

The Los Angeles Galaxy were the last MLS team to post six clean consecutive shutouts, accomplishing the feat from Oct. 2, 2009 thru April 10, 2010.

Minnesota United (5-5-3, 18 points) ended a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) with a 2-1 victory at FC Dallas on Sunday as Robin Lod scored a goal in his third straight MLS contest. No Loons player has ever scored in four consecutive MLS games.

However, Minnesota limps into the contest following a 2-1 home loss to Union Omaha, a USL League One team, on Wednesday in a U.S Open Cup Round of 16 match that ranks as one of the worst losses in franchise history. Lod and star playmaker Emanuel Reynoso both sat out the contest.

“Embarrassing,” Loons coach Adrian Heath said. “Looked like they wanted it more than we did tonight, which is a poor reflection on us.”

Deila said his team — which is one point behind the first-place Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference standings and comes in off an impressive 1-0 win over New England on Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup — can’t overlook the Loons.

“That doesn’t affect anything,” Deila said of Minnesota United’s surprising loss. “They have a clear style of play. They are a tough team to meet and fight against. … We need to do as we always do, prepare well, be mentally and physically ready and go out and execute.”

–Field Level Media