Andrés Gómez helps Real Salt Lake up club-record unbeaten run to 15 with 4-3 win over Sporting KC
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Andrés Gómez scored a goal in each half and added an assist as Real Salt Lake held off Sporting Kansas City 4-3 on Wednesday night, extending club-record unbeaten runs to 15 overall and 10 on the road.
Real Salt Lake (10-2-7) has moved to the top of the Western Conference by going 9-0-6 during the 15-match streak — tied for the fourth longest in league history. The club has gone 4-0-6 in its last 10 matches away from home.
Gómez staked Real Salt Lake to a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute when he took passes Diego Luna and Braian Ojeda and scored.
Sporting KC (3-11-5) pulled even in the 28th minute when Stephen Afrifa used an assist from Nemanja Radoja to score his second career goal and his second in as many matches.
Real Salt Lake took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Anderson Julio in the 33rd minute and held it until halftime. Luna and Chukwuemeka Eneli notched assists on Julio's sixth goal this season. Luna's assist was his ninth of the season and Chukwuemeka's was the second of his two-year career — both this season.
Gómez gave Real Salt Lake a two-goal lead when he scored unassisted with a right-footed shot from the center of the box. It was his 10th goal of the season.
Willy Agada sandwiched his fourth and fifth goals of the season around the first career goal by Real Salt Lake rookie Matt Crooks to complete the scoring. Defender Zorhan Basong assisted on Agada's first score and Memo Rodríguez had one on the second.
Cristian “Chicho” Arango and Gómez had assists on Crooks' goal. Arango's assist was his 10th of the season to go along with his league-high 16 goals, making him just the third Real Salt Lake player to reach double figures in both categories during the same season. Arango needs one more goal to tie the club's single-season record, set by Alvaro Saborio in 2012. Albert Rusnák, who currently plays for the Seattle Sounders, had 11 goals and 11 assists for RSL in 2021. Jeff Cunningham had a 16-11 split in 2006.
Arango moved one ahead of Inter Miami's Lionel Messi for the league lead in goal contributions.
Rookie teenager Gavin Beavers made his fifth start of the season in goal for Real Salt Lake and finished with a career-best eight saves, including one on a penalty kick. At 19 years and 51 days old, the homegrown Beavers became the second-youngest goalkeeper to make a save on a PK. Gabriel “Gaga” Slonina set the record as a 17-year-old keeper for the Chicago Fire in 2021.
Tim Melia saved five shots for Sporting KC.
Real Salt Lake dropped a 2-0 decision on the road to Inter Miami in the season opener and has not lost since.
Real Salt Lake returns home to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. Sporting KC travels to play the Columbus Crew on Saturday.
____
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sport
