Real Salt Lake took the lead and twice came close to an equalizer in the second half, but 10-man Manchester United held on for a narrow 2-1 exhibition victory at a sold-out Rio Tinto Stadium on Monday night.
Luis Silva opened the scoring for the home side with a nifty left-footed flick in the 23rd minute, but goals by Henrikh Mkhitaryan (29th minute) and Romelu Lukaku (38th minute) -- the Belgian's first in a Manchester United shirt -- turned the result on its head just as RSL completely changed over its starting lineup at the half-hour mark.
Ecuadorean international and Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia was sent off in the 68th minute after a violent kick delivered to RSL left winger Sebastian Saucedo, who was forced out of the match. But the Red Devils held on for their second straight win over MLS competition after their 5-2 win vs. the LA Galaxy on Saturday night.
RSL return to MLS league action with two matches in Week 20, beginning on Wednesday night with a contest in Portland (10:30 pm ET on MLS LIVE), before coming home to face West-leading Sporting Kansas City on Saturday (10 pm ET on MLS LIVE).
REAL SALT LAKE starting lineup (4-2-3-1, left to right): Nick Rimando -- Demar Phillips, David Horst, Justen Glad, Tony Beltran -- Kyle Beckerman, Sunday Stephen -- Joao Plata, Albert Rusnak, Jefferson Savarino -- Luis Silva
30th minute (4-2-3-1, left to right): Lalo Fernandez -- Danilo Acosta, Aaron Maund, Marcelo Silva, Chris Wingert -- Luke Mulholland, Nick Besler -- Sebastian Saucedo, Jose Hernandez, Andrew Brody -- Brooks Lennon
71st minute (4-2-3-1, left to right): Lalo Fernandez -- Justin Schmidt, Chris Schuler, Marcelo Silva, Reagan Dunk -- Danilo Acosta, Luke Mulholland -- Chase Minter, Jose Hernandez, Kyle Curinga -- Daniel Haber
MANCHESTER UNITED first half (4-3-3, left to right): Joel Pereira -- Danny Blind, Phil Jones, Victor Lindelof, Timothy Fosu-Mensah -- Paul Pogba, Michael Carrick, Scott McTominay -- Jesse Lingard, Romelu Lukaku, Henrikh Mkhitaryan
MANCHESTER UNITED second half (4-3-3, left to right): Sergio Romero -- Matteo Darmian, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly, Antonio Valencia -- Marouane Fellaini, Andreas Pereira, Ander Herrera -- Anthony Martial (90' Axel Tuanzebe), Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata (59' Demi Mitchell)
