Soccer
Real Salt Lake boosted their chances of reaching the Leagues Cup 2026 knockout rounds on Saturday night with a 4-0 rout of Atlante FC.
The statement performance snapped a four-game winless skid for the Claret-and-Cobalt since returning to play from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
More importantly, it generates belief in making a possible Leagues Cup run after drawing 1-1 with Tigres UANL in their tournament opener.
“I think from a coaching perspective, when you’re not getting results that at times you feel you deserve, it’s about keeping the ship steady and not riding these emotional highs and not being exuberant after wins,” head coach Pablo Mastroeni said postgame. “But also being steady when you don’t get the results because the performances are there.
“And I think for the group tonight, obviously winning is why we do this. How you get there is really the secret sauce.”
Sergi strikes first pic.twitter.com/UyQo523Ux8
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) August 9, 2026
Moon Man magic
At the heart of it all was star midfielder Diego Luna, who assisted Sergi Solans and Zach Booth on RSL’s first two goals at America First Field.
“One of the things we talked about is if we get on the board early, and how can we build momentum here,” explained Mastroeni. “Great individual play in the box with Luna and Sergi to get us going on the right foot, and then really kicked it up in the second half.”
Beyond his pair of assists, Luna was in the mix on all four goals. He set up Lukas Engel‘s 54th-minute tally and occupied the Atlante back line to create space for Pablo Ruiz in the 90th minute as RSL (1W-0L-1D) padded their goal differential.
“I think that first goal with Luna creating his magic in the box and making plays, at the end of the day, this game in that zone is about making plays,” said Mastroeni.
“… The guys were fantastic tonight. And I think that this type of performance obviously lends itself to the belief that we can go through to the next round, and we will control what we can.”
make it 3⃣ pic.twitter.com/gKTEGSyAlz
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) August 9, 2026
Next up
The Claret-and-Cobalt set themselves up with a thrilling Phase One finale against FC Juárez on Tuesday (9:30 pm ET | Apple TV).
With wins over the Vancouver Whitecaps and Minnesota United, Los Bravos look like a lock to advance to LIGA MX’s top four, leading their side of the standings with six points and a valuable +3 goal differential.
“There won’t be anyone resting on their laurels,” Mastroeni said. “They know this is good, but to be better, you have to have a better performance than you had tonight.
“This performance, if we play the same game, it might not be good enough against Juárez. So, we’ve got to double down.”
Read MoreLawanda Michaud