SANDY, Utah — Cristian "Chicho" Arango signed with Real Salt Lake in June of 2023, and he has had a hot start to the MLS season with the club. He leads the league with 8 goals, one ahead of Lionel Messi, and they're tied for the lead with 6 assists.
"I think it's really important for any team to have a guy who is prolific as he is in front of the goal," said RSL Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni. "I think it lays a lot of doubt as to how we're going to score goals and provides a lot of space for the other attacking players as well because he's garnering so much attention and he's still producing."
Arango scored two back-to-back goals in RSL's 4-0 shutout win over Chicago on the road on Saturday. His confidence is contagious to the rest of the players.
"He's just such a smart player. You get him the ball and he's not going to lose it often, he's going to make the right play in the right moment," said RSL defender Andrew Brody. "I think he just gives everybody else confidence with the confidence he's playing at. It goes a long way and we're all just fortunate to have him."
Real Salt Lake's first goal against Chicago by Andres Gomez was set up by Arango downfield, something that Mastroeni thinks he doesn't get enough credit for.
"One of the things that I learned about Chicho really in preseason was his ability to playmake from deeper positions, and I don't think he gets enough credit for being able to find a threatening pass," Mastroeni added. "The first goal that we scored against Chicago, he played Alex Katranis from a deeper position and so he's doing a little bit of everything for us."
Next for the Claret and Cobalt, they'll travel to Philadelphia and face the Union on Saturday, April 27 at 5:30 p.m.
