The Real Salt Lake striker didn’t celebrate his goal against the former team, yet his silence reminded the 22,000 plus in attendance why he was such a cherished player and intrinsic part of the winning culture that propelled LAFC in 2022.
“He’s late.” – said the press contact for Real Salt Lake as we all waited for the Colombian striker to begin his pre-game press conference on Friday before the game on Sunday evening against his former team, LAFC, in Los Angeles. It turned out Arango had been taking extra reps after practice, which had pushed the original time of the conference by a few minutes, forcing a few media members to drop from the call. In the end, Chicho showed up and, when asked about it, said that playing his old team did offer extra motivation to score and win but that this type of work and dedication was part of his routine and essentially what you got from Arango: complete commitment.
AIR CHICHO pic.twitter.com/BoOsxKP5Hf
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 2, 2023
Los Angeles held a substantial win advantage over Real Salt Lake
In the last time those two met in Los Angeles, a one-sided game ended up kicking Real Salt Lake off the Leagues Cup while sending LAFC to play Monterrey in a game they led by two goals but inevitably let the Mexican side come back and win. Then, earlier in the year, when LAFC visited Salt Lake, a big win for the Black and Gold in Utah, solidifying what was a significant advantage over their road opponent: 10 wins vs. two from the original MLS franchise vs. the 5-year expansion team.
A goal that came unexpected, from a cross that gained height over a late Palacios and hovering Long as it left Rubio Rubin’s foot, catching Jesus Murillo and Ryan Hollingshead on separate islands, with Air Chicho flying right through both.
Once the interview began, a focused Arango, as often he is, courteous with all media as you’d expect, answered his questions as honestly as possible while keeping things quite respectful surrounding his relationship with his former team. He didn’t reveal much about the past but, not surprisingly, expressed his gratitude to Real Salt Lake for making him their priority since day 1, something that never happened in LA especially with the arrivals of Bale and Bouanga in 2022 to join the ever shining star of Carlos Vela.
Chicho Arango talked about his coaches, teammates past and present
When asked about his coaches and what was asked of him last year, the Colombian was even briefer, but then taking the time to show confidence in Real’s head coach Pablo Mastroeni, someone who has had his form issues of late and even some locker room tension of his own to deal with. Some of that was surrounding Arango’s arrival and what seemed to be a reduced focal point for striker Jefferson Savarino, a former standout from the Brazilian League at Atlético Mineiro.
Jefferson’s 2023 has been less than stellar, with the Colombian already racking as many goals as the Venezuelan star in a very short period with the Utah team, while the number 10 revealing he was left out of one of RSL’s games due to a coaching decision, not his own as RSL had indicated on their Twitter last week only to have the athlete correct the admin.
On the starting lineup vs. LAFC, Savarino had a mostly quiet night, as did the other RSL strikers, with only 30 percent possession – all up until Chicho’s header, goal and dagger. A goal that came unexpected, from a cross that gained height over a late Palacios and hovering Long as it left Rubio Rubin’s foot, catching Jesus Murillo and Ryan Hollingshead on separate islands, with Air Chicho flying right through both. With his 99th goal in LA, Arango proved once again why he was worthy of a designated player spot, one that often remains open at LAFC.
Meanwhile, Arango is currently outscoring his xG count for the season by 3. That’s double what he was expected to score so far.
Arango on RSL’s preparation for the game in LA
Arango knew that Real would need to be very good defensively for his team to have a chance on Sunday, and throughout most of the game, they did just that, limiting Denis Bouanga and Carlos Vela to 0.2 and 0.1 xG respectively, with experienced goalkeeper Zach McMath getting the shut out despite LAFC’s 1.4 xG on the contest and having the ball most of the game. A blanked performance for both LAFC marquee attackers and its supporting cast, the 4th game in a row without a goal.
Denis, in several places, seemed challenged by his first and last touch on the ball, only to be quickly swarmed by RSL defenders. Meanwhile, on his bobblehead night, Carlos Vela seemed to struggle in 1:1 situations, requiring him to be explosive to beat a defender and goalkeeper, leaving many on the stands asking who will become the striker that could inevitably conquer the hearts of LAFC fans once again.
Cover : Real Salt Lake / X
