Atiba Harris and Jeff Cunningham scored on either side of halftime and Real Salt Lake won their first match of the season in a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night.
The victory, Real's first-ever in club history away from home, also put an end to their MLS-record 18-game winless streak dating back to Aug. 10, 2005.
RSL improved its record to 1-5-1 and pulled even with Chivas USA in the Western Conference table with four points. The win also marked the first time in six trips to The Home Depot Center that RSL had earned a point. Last year, RSL lost twice each to the Galaxy and Chivas USA and opened this year with a loss to the latter.
The Galaxy, meanwhile, are now winless in their last five home matches dating back to last year (and all four this year) -- the longest such drought at home in club history.
Saturday's match was RSL's first without World Cup-bound Eddie Pope and Douglas Sequeira. Willis Forko and Nelson Akwari each made their second start of the season a week after their first. Daniel Torres returned after missing last week's match, while Kevin Novak made his season debut, the four making up Real's back line.
Meanwhile, Carey Talley moved from his spot on the backline into Sequeira's usual place in the center of midfield.
Barely four minutes in, Real Salt Lake survived a scare. Newly arrived Kyle Martino found space down the left side of the penalty area and chipped the ball to the front of the goal, where the Galaxy's other recent arrival, John Wolyniec, slid but missed the ball.
Eight minutes in, Harris fired Real Salt Lake's first shot on goal. His 25-yard attempt however sailed right into the arms of Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
The Galaxy had success getting quality crosses in front of the Real goal early, and in the 10th minute, RSL goalkeeper Scott Garlick passed his first test of the match. Wolyniec struck a header on goal from another good cross and Garlick dived to stop the shot.
Harris proved deadly as the visitors opened their account in the 17th minute. Talley took a restart from the middle of the field and knocked the ball to Harris. Standing with his back to the goal, Harris took one step to his left. Galaxy defender Tyrone Marshall bit and Harris instead turned right. He raced into the penalty area alone and slammed a left-footed shot past Hartman.
It was the fourth time this season that RSL scored first. The other three games finished in losses, however.
Mehdi Ballouchy nearly doubled Real's lead midway through the first half. Chris Klein sailed a cross from the right side of the penalty area to Ballouchy, who stood unmarked on the side opposite from Klein. Ballouchy slammed the ball from mid-air but the shot just missed the goal.
Ballouchy then again missed a chance to add to the Real Salt Lake's lead. RSL had numbers on a counterattack. Klein found Ballouchy alone at the top of the area but the rookie's shot went wide of the goal.
Real continued to create good chances, but continued to spurn the opportunities to add to their slender lead. Klein unleashed a 10-yard blast on goal in the 64th minute but the ball sailed just wide of the far post. Had the shot been on target, Hartman likely would have had a difficult time stopping it. Three minutes later, Klein fired a shot on goal but Hartman made a diving save and knocked Klein's 18-yard shot out of bounds.
Cunningham, who came on for Harris in the 69th minute, finally broke through. Klein beat the Galaxy's offside trap and found Talley racing down the right side of the field completely unmarked. Cunningham, who had been lingering near the defense, broke in on goal. Talley slipped a pass just past Hartman's reach and Cunningham knocked the ball into an empty net.
RSL left no doubt that its lead would hold this time. In the 87th minute, Cunningham raced alone down the field to chase down a ball played by Kreis over the top. After rounding Hartman a few yards outside the penalty area, Cunningham knocked a ball into a gaping net.
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
