SANDY — Saturday afternoon at America First Field was billed as a celebration of Diego Luna, especially since Real Salt Lake manager Pablo Mastroeni let it known in a very public way that the 22-year-old talisman would make his first of the season.
There was plenty of that when Luna scored a goal in the fourth minute, ripping a shot from distance with the same left leg he injured just days before the 2026 season opener in Vancouver.
Real Salt Lake hasn't missed a beat through Luna's rehab — and neither did the United States' World Cup hopeful.
Zavier Gozo added a goal and two assists to Luna's goal, and rookie Sergi Solans scored his third goal in four matches as RSL pulled past rival Sporting Kansas City 3-1 to extend the club's unbeaten run to five straight in front of an announced crowd of 20,290 fans.
For Luna, Saturday was a key first test: his first start since the injury, his first chance to show U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino that he belongs on the World Cup roster after being left off the camp roster for a pair of friendlies against Belgium and Portugal — and ultimately, a chance for his first goal of the year.
Check, check, and check.
No pressure, though.
"I never (feel like I) have to score," said Luna, who also set up Stijn Spierings' game-winner in a win over Austin. "I've just got to go in there and perform, work my butt off, and then good things will come."
Luna did that, and then some, to help Salt Lake improve to 4-1-1 six matches into the 2026 MLS season and a top-four placement in the Western Conference with 13 points.
But he wasn't alone.
Gozo had his best game of the season for Salt Lake, scoring the decisive goal off a ridiculous volley in the 82nd minute roughly 30 minutes after finding Solans for a cool finish on the break.
That's the thing about Luna that perhaps make his national team prospects — as strong as they've been since he debuted with spectacle in January 2024 — perhaps more underrated: He makes his teammates better.
"He's going to float and roam, and that's what makes him difficult to defend," RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said.
In the week leading up to Saturday's key start, Mastroeni noted that Luna and Gozo "had a really good week together," as the two combined in training sessions and the teenage Utah native showed flashes brilliance — as well as the youthful exuberance that occasionally leads to overconfidence.
"But that's the beauty of youth; they don't care," Mastroeni added. "They aren't worried about what their teammates say if they take a shot from 35 yards out at a difficult angle."
The youthful exuberance was on full display during Gozo's third goal, when he took a touch from teammate Noel Caliskan that he initially didn't like.
"I was just like, I've got to make something out of this," Gozo said. "So I just hit it. That was pretty much it."
But that's the other thing about this Salt Lake team: it's a supportive group, from back to front and in reverse.
With Solans on a tear, former star striker Victor Olatunji — who had four goals and an assist in eight matches after a mid-season transfer a year ago — has accepted a new role as an impact substitute, including scoring the equalizer a week ago in a 2-2 road draw at San Diego FC that kept the club's unbeaten streak alive.
Luna, too, may be the most unassuming superstar in Major League Soccer, a former league Young Player of the Year and rising American star who still speaks openly about his mental health struggles and how a part-time job at Dutch Bros. helped him develop the social skills he uses every day.
That unassuming nature trickles down, even to the 19-year-old Gozo and even younger teammates like recent RSL Academy signees Luca Moisa and Aiden Hezarkhani.
"I feel like the locker room is so close," Gozo said. "All of the guys are so close. In training, we all play well together.
"No matter who is on the field, the chemistry is going to be 100%," he added. "It never fails. It's a testament to how close we are, and the brotherhood that we have."
Real Salt Lake stays home to host San Diego on April 18 (7:30 p.m. MT, Apple TV).
