Real Salt Lake forward Luis Silva controlled Albert Rusnák’s through ball and found himself running toward goal with little pressure on him.
San Jose goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell came off his line to cut down on the angle, but Silva ignored the angles and shot through Tarbell’s legs, giving RSL a lead it would not relinquish in a comprehensive 4-0 victory against the Earthquakes on Wednesday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Silva’s third goal in as many games got RSL off to a good start, and the hosts scored three times after San Jose was down to 10 men. The win put RSL (9-13-5, 32 points) within three points of Vancouver, which sits in the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Vancouver has three games in hand over Real Salt Lake.
(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Silva (20), left, celebrates his goal during match against San Jose at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy Wednesday August 23, 2017.
“We didn’t do too much differently tonight than we’ve done over the last month, month and a half,” RSL coach Mike Petke said. “The only difference was that we converted our chances. We’ve created so many and we’ve been so fluid going forward and tonight it just fell to us, and guys were lethal with the ball at their feet going to goal.”
Silva became the second RSL player to score in three consecutive matches this season. Yura Movsisyan achieved the same feat in April.
“The goal at D.C United came out of nowhere,” Rusnák said of Silva’s scoring. “The goal at Montreal again was a shot from a difficult angle, I know many players won’t score that. And today, again I don’t think that’s a 100 percent clear opportunity to score a goal, but he made the most of it. So that’s being clinical.
“And we know he’s playing out of his position. He’s playing up top, and that’s not his main position, but at the moment he’s doing a great job. So as long as he keeps scoring, we’re all happy.”
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando also reached a couple milestones, logging his 100th career shutout for RSL in his 300th regular season start for the club. He only needed to make one save on the night.
Already the aggressor with the lead, RSL got an advantage in numbers when Anibal Godoy was sent off in the 61st minute after his second yellow card.
From there, the floodgates opened up.
Jefferson Savarino gave RSL a 2-0 lead with a beautiful curling shot into the upper right corner of the net in the 68th minute. Rusnák made it 3-0 in the 79th minute, hitting a one-timer off an assist from Joao Plata.
Movsisyan came off the bench to score RSL’s fourth goal in injury time. He settled a long punt from Rimando and his first shot was saved by Tarbell, but the rebound was spilled back to Movsisyan, who found the back of the net.
Video review made its first call reversal in an RSL home match. Silva slid in after a pass, knocking the ball away from Tarbell and colliding with him. Plata followed, and while Tarbell got a hand on Plata’s shot, it still bounced into the net. The 50th-minute goal was disallowed, however, after a review.