Two runs that refuse to end
Real Salt Lake host Los Angeles FC on Saturday night with one awkward thing in common. Neither club has won an MLS game since the World Cup break.
RSL are 8-9-4 on 28 points, 10th in the West and just outside the playoff line. Seven league games without a win since the restart, 0-5-2. LAFC look far healthier in the table, third on 36 points from 10-7-6, but they are winless in five themselves, 0-2-3.
Salt Lake lost last on 29 August, 1-0 at Colorado, undone by a Reggie Cannon strike in the 58th minute. LAFC spent that same day grinding out a 0-0 at D.C. United.
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Salt Lake cannot score
Eight MLS goals since the restart. Rather than wait for the attack to wake up on its own, the club moved in the market: Pablo Ruiz went to the LA Galaxy, 19-year-old Serbian winger Dusan Zagar came in, and Taylor Booth arrived on loan from FC Twente.
Zagar brings three goals in 42 matches for FK IMT Belgrade. Nobody is pretending that is eye-catching output. This is a bet on what he becomes. “We think our track record in developing players like Andres Gomez and Zavier Gozo has made us an attractive option,” said sporting director Kurt Schmid.
Lloris holds firm while LAFC keep missing
Los Angeles have the reverse problem. In Washington they took 17 shots and put one on target. Hugo Lloris collected his 11th clean sheet of the season with three saves and could probably have gone home early.
Their roster has shifted too. Brazilian Thayllon Roberth, 20, and Finland’s Leo Walta arrived on loan, David Martinez left for FC Midtjylland. Roberth has seven goals and five assists in 46 Serie B appearances in Brazil across the last two years. “His performances in Brazil showed both his ability to impact games right away and the significant upside he has as he develops,” said John Thorrington, the club’s president of soccer operations.
The last meeting was one-sided. On 22 July, at home, LAFC won 3-1 with first-half goals from Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga.
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