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Real Salt Lake comes up short at Philadelphia

The streaking Union beat RSL 2-1 in Major League Soccer action.

(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Rafael Cabral is shown during a game in April. Cabral and RSL lost 2-1 to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Rafael Cabral is shown during a game in April. Cabral and RSL lost 2-1 to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night.

Real Salt Lake’s respite from its monthslong slump lasted just one game.

RSL lost 2-1 to the host Philadelphia Union on Saturday, after snapping a 13-game Major League Soccer winless streak in its last outing.

Philadelphia’s Bruno Damiani scored in the 31st minute, with 17-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan contributing to the goal. Sullivan drove into the box, drew two RSL players toward him and sent a pass back to Frankie Westfield, who passed the ball to Damiani for the goal.

The Union doubled their lead in the 87th minute with a goal from Milan Iloski, with Sullivan and Damiani notching assists.

RSL midfielder Saba Lobjandidze scored six minutes into second-half stoppage time with assists from Luc de Fougerolles and Juan Manuel Sanabria.

RSL couldn’t build off its 3-0 win over the New England Revolution on Sept. 26 and slipped to 9-14-5 on the season. With six regular-season games remaining, RSL sits in 11th place in the Western Conference.

The Union (12-10-6) earned their seventh straight MLS victory and occupy sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

Nine teams from each conference will reach the postseason, with the eighth- and ninth-place teams meeting in a play-in game.

RSL returns home to face the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV) at America First Field.

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