Real Salt Lake and the Houston Dynamo drew 1-1 at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night, with the two Western Conference rivals canceling each other out in the scorching Utah heat. When the halftime whistle blew, RSL appeared to be in command of the game, but a strong second half from the Dynamo turned things around, and both teams were content with a hard-earned point in the end.

From the first whistle, the home team found its stride. They went into the halftime break with a 1-0 advantage thanks to 24-year-old defender Justen Glad's goal. The young American took advantage of an early set-piece that was awarded to his team, scoring off a corner kick.

RSL's domination on the pitch continued, with attacking midfielder Damir Kreilach hitting the crossbar in the 23rd minute and winger Maikel Chang forcing a save from Dynamo goalkeeper Marko Maric seven minutes before the break.

The home team's dominance in the first half, however, did not appear to carry over into the second. Maxi Urruti, an Argentine striker, scored an appealing goal for the visitors in the 52nd minute. The Dynamo replied with the speed of Tyler Pasher and Memo Rodriguez, who broke two RSL tackles in the process, and the ball eventually dropped to Urruti on the edge of the box, who scored spectacularly.

However, late drama arose when Dynamo defender Tim Parker appeared to commit a questionable foul in the area in 90+3, but VAR and referee Nima Saghafi agreed not to award the United States international a penalty.

[Photography by ICONIC photographer Abram Iman]