MATCHCENTER

SANDY, Utah — Real Salt Lake returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 3-0 defeat of D.C. United here on a rainy night at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Flowing the entire night, the defending MLS Cup champions got goals from Alvaro Saborio, Robbie Findley and Nelson Gonzalez.

Real Salt Lake came out pressing to get on the board early, and in the 13th minute made good on their intent. A long ball out of the back found Findley on the left side. The US international switched the field of play, finding Ned Grabavoy with space on the right side. Grabavoy, composed and waiting, picked out Saborío’s well-timed run with a perfectly weighted through ball. The Costa Rican marksman gathered the pass, and quickly shot it underneath DC keeper Troy Perkins.

GOALS

	VS
REAL SALT LAKE		D.C. UNITED

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Comparison

	REAL SALT LAKE		D.C. UNITED
SHO Shots				SHO Shots
SOG Shots on Goal				SOG Shots on Goal
SVS Saves				SVS Saves
F Fouls				F Fouls
OFF Offsides				OFF Offsides
CK Corner Kicks				CK Corner Kicks

United’s best chance of the first half came just after the goal. Santino Quaranta spotted Andy Najar making the long run to the far post. However, the teenager was unable to connect cleanly with the cross and his header sailed over the bar.

DC had several opportunities in the second half, particularly through new acquisition Branko Boskovic. The Montenegrin attacker whistled a 20-yard freekick just past the left post in the 70th minute.

As Curt Onalfo’s United pushed to equalize in the second half, making an offensive substitution in the form of Jaime Moreno, Real Salt Lake began to see the chances in the open spaces.

Findley, who was active all night, found a seam behind the defense in the 79th minute, and made United pay. He received a diagonal ball from Andy Williams, and strode into the right corner for United’s area. After a couple of touches to settle the ball, he blasted a low shot at the far post. Perkins diving to his left got a hand on the ball, but he was unable to stop the shot and was forced to watch it roll in, giving RSL a 2-0 advantage.

RSL controlled much of the action in the closing minutes, and in the 94th minute, substitute Nelson Gonzalez produced a goal of deft beauty. After some crafty pass work in the midfield, Gonzalez received a pass, poked the ball around a defender, and ran in alone. As Perkins started off his line, the Argentine cheekily chipped the ball up and over the DC keeper. The ball nestled into the back of the net, completing the 3-0 rout and rejuvenating Real Salt Lake’s intent to challenge the LA Galaxy for honors in the West.

Scoring Summary:

RSL -- Alvaro Saborio 8 (Ned Grabavoy 1, Robbie Findley 3) 13

RSL -- Robbie Findley 4 (Andy Williams 4) 79

RSL -- Nelson Gonzalez 1 (Andy Williams 5) 94+

Misconduct Summary:

DC -- Carey Talley (caution; Dissent) 17

DC -- Branko Boskovic (caution; Dissent) 17

RSL -- Chris Wingert (caution; Dissent) 58

DC -- Andy Najar (caution; Dissent) 67

D.C. United -- Troy Perkins, Devon McTavish (Jaime Moreno 78), Julius James, Carey Talley, Marc Burch, Andy Najar, Branko Boskovic, Clyde Simms (Stephen King 44), Santino Quaranta, Danny Allsopp (Chris Pontius 57), Pablo Hernandez.

Substitutes Not Used: Adam Cristman, Kurt Morsink, Barry Rice, Bill Hamid.

Real Salt Lake -- Nick Rimando, Robbie Russell, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert, Ned Grabavoy (Nelson Gonzalez 88), Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales (Andy Williams 71), Will Johnson, Robbie Findley, Alvaro Saborio (Jean Alexandre 82).

Substitutes Not Used: Tony Beltran, Pablo Campos, Fabian Espindola, Tim Melia.

Referee: Ramon Hernandez

Referee's Assistants: Anthony Vasoli; Jeff Hosking

4th Official: Yader Reyes

Time of Game: 1:51

Attendance: 17,719

Weather: Cloudy-and-87-degrees