SANDY, Utah — Real Salt Lake snapped their two-game losing streak and extended the New York Red Bulls' league winless streak to five with a 3-0 rout of their visitors on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium.
One week removed from their Emirates Cup triumph, New York came out content to put numbers behind the ball, letting the home side kick it around their end for most of the half. But it was the Red Bulls who created the first good chance of the match. Thierry Henry picked out a nifty pass to fellow striker Juan Agudelo in the seventh minute amid traffic in the attacking third. The young striker got on the end of it, but his shot was stuffed by goal keeper Nick Rimando.
The miss proved costly, however. In the 13th minute, a Kyle Beckerman corner kick found the head of defender Nat Borchers, who nodded his shot past New York goalkeeper Frank Rost to make the score 1-0.
Agudelo’s shot was New York’s only shot of the first half, but RSL weren’t done as young midfielder Luis Gil netted a second just before the whistle. Beckerman was again in the middle of the action, as he intercepted a clearance from defender Rafa Márquez in the 44th minute and fed Gil the ball. The 17-year old did the rest, blasting a 25-yard shot past Rost to record his first career goal in MLS.
The Red Bulls made two substitutions in the second half, with Stephen Keel making way for Dax McCarty and Bouna Coundoul replacing Rost, who came out with a right quadriceps strain. The changes seemed to galvanize New York, who pushed numbers forward and had some successful combination play, but they were still chasing the game against an RSL side that had had an entire half to find their rhythm.
In the 65thminute, Agudelo had a diving header attempt inside the box that just went wide right. Despite a better offensive showing in the second frame, It was New York’s best chance of a half that saw them experience yet another setback when Jan Gunnar Solli had to make way in the 69th minute for John Rooney due to a right quadriceps strain.
Real Salt Lake put the finishing touch on the game in the 76th minute when left back Roy Miller was whistled for a hand ball in the penalty area off of a corner kick. Álvaro Saborío stepped up to the spot and put away the attempt, giving RSL the 3-0 win.
With the victory, Salt Lake improve to 10-5-6 on the season. They next visit Toronto FC on Aug. 13. The Red Bulls, meanwhile, fall to 6-6-12 and have won only once in their past eight league matches. They next host Chicago, also on Aug. 13.
Scoring Summary:
RSL -- Nat Borchers 2 (Kyle Beckerman 6) 13
RSL -- Luis Gil 1 (Kyle Beckerman 7) 44
RSL -- Alvaro Saborio 6 (penalty kick) 77
Misconduct Summary:
NY -- Rafael Marquez (caution; Delaying a Restart) 76
RSL -- Will Johnson (caution; Delaying a Restart) 84
Lineups:
New York Red Bulls -- Frank Rost (Bouna Coundoul 46), Chris Albright, Rafael Marquez, Tim Ream, Roy Miller, Jan Gunnar Solli (John Rooney 69), Mehdi Ballouchy, Dax McCarty (Stephen Keel 46), Joel Lindpere, Juan Agudelo, Thierry Henry.
Substitutes Not Used: Corey Hertzog, Matt Kassel, Tyler Lassiter.
Real Salt Lake -- Nick Rimando, Robbie Russell, Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert, Andy Williams (Arturo Alvarez 82), Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil (Collen Warner 67), Will Johnson (Jean Alexandre 87), Alvaro Saborio, Fabian Espindola.
Substitutes Not Used: Chris Agorsor, Tony Beltran, Rauwshan McKenzie, Tim Melia.
Referee: Elias Bazakos
Referee's Assistants: Ian Anderson; Eric Boria
4th Official: Tyler Ploeger
Attendance: 19,081
Time of Game: 1:47
Weather: Sunny and 93 degrees
