Pablo Mastroeni is pleased with the strides Real Salt Lake have made on the road this season and is hopeful they can cause more problems at Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday.
RSL sit top of the Western Conference, one point clear of LAFC, with a 0-0 draw away at CF Montreal at the weekend extending their unbeaten streak.
They have not lost any of their last 14 matches in the MLS and are unbeaten in their last nine on the road.
Mastroeni has been impressed with his team's progress, particularly their performances on the road.
"I'm really pleased with the mindset, and I feel like as a group we're starting to really understand moments and really control games as to the way we want to play," said Mastroeni.
"Going to any stadium away from home, it's very difficult to [get wins] but I feel we've made great strides in that direction over the course of the season.
"It's taken us 18 games to get to a point where we feel like we can go on the road and really dictate large portions of the games. I feel like we're getting really brave with our performances and I'm pleased with the progress we're making."
Meanwhile, Sporting KC sit 13th and are seven points behind the playoff places having won just one of their last 12 matches in the league.
After a 4-2 defeat to LA Galaxy at the weekend, head coach Peter Vermes has admitted he may need to bring in reinforcements in the upcoming transfer window.
"Over the next two to three windows we're going to have to be very active," Vermes said. "If it happens? I can't tell you if it does or not. We need players on all three lines, for sure."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sporting Kansas City – Johnny Russell
Russell has scored seven goals in 15 career matches against Real Salt Lake in all competitions. He has only scored more goals against Houston Dynamo (eight) since he joined Sporting in 2018.
Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango
Real Salt Lake are on a nine-match unbeaten run on the road in the MLS, though they were held to a 0-0 draw against Montreal last weekend. Arango was their biggest threat in that game, having six shots, though he could not find a breakthrough.
MATCH PREDICTION: REAL SALT LAKE WIN
Real Salt Lake defeated Sporting Kansas City at home, 1-0, in May 4 in the first meeting between the sides this season. RSL have won five of their eight matches against Sporting (D1 L2, incl. playoffs) since the beginning of the 2021 season.
Real Salt Lake extended their regular-season unbeaten run to 14 games (W8 D6) with a scoreless draw at Montreal on Saturday, equaling the longest single-season run in club history (July-October 2010).
Meanwhile, Sporting Kansas City's 4-2 defeat to the Galaxy on Saturday was their eighth defeat in their last nine regular-season matches. Sporting have not lost nine times in a span of 10 regular-season matches in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Sporting Kansas City – 32.2%
Draw – 25.4%
Real Salt Lake – 42.4%
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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