Washington • Pablo Ruiz scored from midfield in the first half, Danny Muscovski added a second-half goal and Real Salt Lake held off D.C. United 2-1 on Saturday night.

Things went bad for DC United (6-8-5) after defender Steven Birnbaum sent off for a red card in the 26th minute.

Ruiz staked Real Salt Lake (6-7-5) to a 1-0 halftime lead when he took a pass from Andrew Brody at midfield in the 41st minute and drilled a shot over the outstretched arm of Tyler Miller and into the back right corner of the net. It was Ruiz’s fourth goal of the season.

Real Salt Lake went up 2-0 early in the second half when Musovski used assists from Andrés Gómez and Jasper Löffelsend in the 51st minute to score his third goal this season.

DC United answered two minutes later with a goal by Chris Durkin. Ruan picked up an assist on Durkin’s second netter of the campaign.

Miller totaled three saves for DC United. Zac MacMath stopped one shot for Real Salt Lake.

Real Salt Lake won for just the second time in 14 all-time road matches with DC United.

DC United entered play with a 3-0-2 record in its last five home matches in all competitions. The three victories were by shutouts. United had just two clean sheets in its previous 16 home matches in all competitions.

Real Salt Lake improves to 6-0-2 in its last eight road matches, tying a club record set spanning the 2013-14 seasons.

Real Salt Lake travels to play St. Louis City on Wednesday. DC United will host FC Cincinnati on Saturday.