This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Defender Tony Beltran said the reserve players who were expected to play for Real Salt Lake against the New England Revolution on Saturday night wanted to prove they are members of the deepest team in Major League Soccer.

Can anybody doubt them now?

Using a lineup that included just two regular starters, RSL dominated the Revs 2-0 at Gillette Stadium in suburban Boston to extend its unbeaten streak to 17 games — the third-longest in league history — in a game that featured three red cards for dangerous tackles and angry confrontations.

RSL's Will Johnson was among the players sent off in the second half — the Revs' Shalrie Joseph and Pat Phelan were the others — but goals by defender Chris Schuler and forward Paulo Junior helped RSL become the only unbeaten team in the league after Philadelphia's 1-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls.

"The guys are making me look like a smart man, for sure," coach Jason Kreis told ESPN 700 radio.

Kreis rested most of his top players because he wanted to give them a break after a long trip home from a Champions League game in Costa Rica — and because RSL was playing its second-straight game on artificial turf.

But the reserves came up big, with Schuler scoring his first goal for the team in the 27th minute and Paulo adding one in the 47th.

"It's a testament to our depth that we were able to get the result in two different games using two significantly different lineups," Schuler told ESPN 700 radio.

The game was already well in hand for RSL when Joseph was ejected with a red card in the 70th minute for poking a finger in the face of RSL's Kyle Beckerman.

That left the Revs a man down, and they went two down when Phelan was shown straight red for a two-footed tackle on RSL's Robbie Russell in the 86th minute.

Johnson was ejected with his second yellow for a confrontation with New England's Didier Domi.