Real Salt Lake extends home streak to 24 wins

Real Salt Lake's massive unbeaten run at Rio Tinto Stadium is still rolling strong.

Strike partners Alvaro Saborio and Robbie Findley each tallied a goal to lead the Utah side to a 3-0 result against D.C. United on Saturday night.

The win extends RSL's unbeaten run at home to 20 consecutive Major League Soccer matches and 24 straight overall, moving the defending league champions to 10-4-4 (34 points) on the season.

"At this level, the difference between ... teams is very, very small," Real boss Jason Kreis said. "Coming off two disappointing results in a row, we needed a positive response and a positive result, and we got both."

The biggest cheer of the night, however, didn't come from either of the strikes from Real's big guns, instead belonging to 90th minute substitute Nelson Gonzalez's spectacular breakdown of D.C.'s defense late in stoppage time to round out the scoring.

"I'm really, really pleased for him. It was a fantastic goal," Kreis said. "He's been so, so frustrated by his hamstring. I think he's pulled it three times or something like that. It was nice to get him in the 18, and it was really nice to get him on the field."

Battling multiple injuries to his hamstring over the past two months, it was Gonzalez's first appearance on the field since a May 22 road match at Chivas It's the first goal in MLS action for the Argentine international, who RSL picked up on loan from Quilmes of the Argentine Second Division last August.

"It was a quick break," Gonzalez said. "I took a touch and I just saw that the goalkeeper was coming out and put it over."

Real kicked the match off with a bang, as outside midfielder Ned Grabavoy sliced a ball through D.C.'s defense to a cutting Saborio and the Costa Rican international blitzed a kick underneath United goalkeeper Troy Perkins for the 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.

D.C. outshot RSL 6-3 in the first half, despite the home side maintaining more total possession.

United (3-12-3, 12) actually put more pressure on RSL in the second half, with Real struggling with passing miscues.

"We were giving them 30-40 yards and a chance at our goal," Kreis said. "It's something that we'll have to look at."

Findley effectively iced the match in the 79th minute, taking a pass from Andy Williams and bending a left-to-right shot from the corner off the far post and into the net for the 2-0 lead.

* N.E. REVOLUTION 1, UNION 1: At Chester, Pa., Marko Perovic scored an unassisted goal from about 30 yards out in the 71st minute, allowing the New England Revolution to salvage a draw with the Philadelphia Union.

Perovic's long shot appeared to take an awkward bounce past Union goalkeeper Chris Seitz, giving him four goals on the season and extending the Revolution's unbeaten streak to five.

The Revolution (4-9-3) have been terrible on the road, going 1-6-1, but their current winning streak has given them a lift. It includes two league matches and three wins in SuperLiga action.

Sebastien Le Toux scored his team-best eighth goal of the season for Philadelphia (4-8-3) in the 25th minute.

* FC DALLAS 1, RAPIDS 1: At Commerce City, Colo., FC Dallas extended its unbeaten streak to eight games (4-0-4).

Colorado defender Julien Baudet put the ball into his own net in the 22nd minute to keep FC Dallas unbeaten since losing to Los Angeles on May 20.

FC Dallas maintained its three-point lead over the Rapids for third place in the Western Conference.

Mehdi Ballouchy goal on a penalty kick for Colorado (6-5-6) and remained winless for the seventh connective game. The Rapids are 0-2-5 and haven't won since June 5.

* RED BULLS 2, DYNAMO 2: At Houston, Thierry Henry had a pair of assists in his Major League Soccer debut, setting up Juan Pablo Angel for two goals for the New York Red Bulls.

The former Barcelona and Arsenal star passed to Angel for goals in the 10th and 58th minutes, twice putting New York ahead in his first competitive match since France's first-round World Cup exit in June.

However, Brian Mullan scored in the 90th minute to lift the Dynamo (5-8-5) to their fourth tie in five matches. Brad Davis also scored for Houston, which is winless since May 22.

New York (8-6-3) got its third tie in four matches to remain in second place in the Eastern Conference.

* WIZARDS 1, TORONTO FC 0: At Kansas City, Kan., Teal Bunbury took advantage of a defensive miscue and scored in the 61st minute to lift Kansas City past Toronto FC.

The win gave Kansas City (5-8-4) its first three-match unbeaten streak of the year. Toronto (6-6-5) fell to 1-6-1 in road games.

The Wizards, who were coming off a 2-1 exhibition victory over Manchester United last Sunday, were slow to get their offense untracked against Toronto with only one shot on goal in the first half.

But in the 61st minute, Bunbury tracked down a botched back pass by Adrian Cann and struck a line-drive header from the edge of the penalty area. Keeper Stefan Frei got a hand on the ball the ball, but the high deflection glanced off the bottom of the crossbar and into the goal.

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