Sergi Solans scored twice to help Real Salt Lake post a 3-0 victory over St. Louis City SC in Sandy, Utah, on Saturday night.
Dominik Marczuk also scored and Rafael Cabral made two saves for Salt Lake (11-14-6, 39 points), which won its second straight match and moved within one point of the LA Galaxy for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
RSL held a commanding 20-3 advantage in shot attempts, including an 8-2 edge in shots on target.
Ben Lundt made four saves but conceded three goals in just his third start of the season for St. Louis (14-8-9, 51 points), which lost consecutive games for the first time since a three-game skid from April 18 to May 3. St. Louis dropped to third in the West after FC Dallas moved ahead with a win over San Jose earlier Saturday.
Salt Lake recorded the first five shots on target and took a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute on Solans’ team-leading 13th goal of the season. Morgan Guilavogui assisted with a cross.
In the 44th minute, St. Louis’ Tomas Ostrak was sent off after receiving his second yellow card for a reckless foul just before halftime.
RSL put eight shots on target in the first half, compared with one for St. Louis. The disparity came despite the visitors controlling 58.6% of possession during the opening 45-plus minutes.
Salt Lake doubled its lead in the 52nd minute when Marczuk fired a right-footed shot into the net off an assist from Luc de Fougerolles for his second goal of the season.
Seven minutes later, Solans scored his third goal in two games. Saba Lobjanidze sent a pinpoint pass across the box, allowing Solans to beat Lundt with an easy finish. Lundt was filling in for the injured Roman Burki.
–Field Level Media
