Real Salt Lake reached the MLS postseason after beating LA Galaxy 2–1 on the final day of the regular season, Saturday, 7 November. The league’s report confirms ninth place in the Western Conference and a trip to Seattle for the Wild Card match on 19 November.

Sergi Solans and Zach Booth scored early at America First Field before the hosts resisted a Galaxy recovery inspired by Hirving Lozano. Winning their own match was necessary but insufficient: Salt Lake also needed help elsewhere, which arrived when Colorado Rapids lost 3–1 at FC Dallas.

The final qualifying margin was one point. Salt Lake won four of their last five games after enduring a club-record 13-match winless run in late September. The contrast between those phases explains why qualification remained unresolved until the last round rather than being settled by a comfortable season-long position.

Solans played an important role in the recovery during his first MLS campaign. His 15 regular-season goals represent the second-highest debut-season total for a SuperDraft selection, according to the historical comparison published by MLS. Cyle Larin remains ahead with 17 for Orlando City in 2015.

Salt Lake extended their sequence of playoff appearances to six seasons. Ninth place nevertheless means their next test is a single match away to Seattle, with Vancouver waiting in Round One for the winner. The Galaxy victory preserved their season, but it did not provide home advantage for the next stage.

Archival cover photograph: An archival Real Salt Lake match against Dallas; not from the current event. Photographer/creator: Patrick Rouin-PR4 Photography. Image source and metadata; CC BY-SA 2.0. Image date as recorded by the source: 2021-09-04 18:26. Wikimedia-supplied file used without raster edits.