Real Salt Lake breaks through on road

CARSON, Calif. — Jason Kreis refused to let his players hang their heads after tying Colorado last week. Sure, Real Salt Lake gave up a discouraging late goal, but Kreis truly believed the positives far outweighed the negatives and he was surprisingly upbeat.

A week later Kreis didn't have to convince anyone to feel good about their performance. That elusive road win took care of that.

Capitalizing on an early goal by Yura Movsisyan and then a second half red card to Eddie Lewis, Real Salt Lake snapped Los Angeles' 10-game unbeaten streak with a workmanlike 2-0 victory at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night.

"We're very pleased — first road win of the year and first win in a long time," Kreis said. "There's been a lot of disappointment around our team now for way too long.

"To have that same effort this week and that same kind of belief was a very good sign for Real Salt Lake."

RSL improved to 4-6-3 with the victory, its first since April 25, and vaulted into a fifth-place tie in the West with the Galaxy.

More importantly Kreis' team seems to have finally figured out a system that works regardless of the venue. RSL didn't sit back just because it was on the road. It came out and attacked out of the same 4-3-3 formation it used in a solid performance the week before at home against the Rapids.

It was rewarded with several early scoring opportunities, and Movsisyan finally capitalized in the 13th minute.

A week after his long-awaited second goal of the season, Movsisyan easily tracked down a fantastic over-the-top ball from Clint Mathis and just as easily danced around defender Gregg Berhalter before hammering a shot through the hands of Galaxy keeper Donovan Ricketts for the 1-0 lead.

"I thought he was absolutely fantastic tonight and I'm looking forward to what he's like over the next couple of weeks," said Kreis.

Not only was it RSL's second road goal of the season, but it also gave the club its first lead away from Rio Tinto Stadium in 2009.

Real Salt Lake nearly gave it back two minutes later. Dema Kovalenko forced Nick Rimando into an incredibly difficult save in the 15th minute, with a rebound trickling to Eddie Lewis, who volleyed the ball directly to Rimando as the goalkeeper was still laying on the ground.

Rimando came up with several other acrobatic saves to earn his third shutout of the season.

Early in the second half, RSL's much-needed insurance goal came from the most unlikely of suspects. Defender Nat Borchers scored the first goal of his MLS career in the 52nd minute after a Mathis deflected shot landed right at his feet eight yards from goal.

It was the icing for RSL's first road victory since a win at San Jose last September.