Kyle Beckerman scored one goal and assisted on another by Chris Schuler in the first half to lead Real Salt Lake to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night.
Salt Lake (12-7-6) won its second straight, while Philadelphia (8-7-10) extended its winless streak to six.
RSL was without starters Alvaro Saborio and Will Johnson while they are with their respective national teams, and Nat Borchers, who sat out because of a red card against Chivas USA last week.
''I think everybody saw it wasn't a pretty game,'' RSL coach Jason Kreis said. ''It wasn't pleasing to the eye. We would have liked to control the tempo a lot better than we did tonight, but you have to walk away happy that the guys fought so hard.''
Beckerman put Salt Lake on the board in the 18th minute when Paulo, Jr. flicked the ball to him on the left side. Beckerman worked his way to the top and from just outside the penalty box, he unleashed a hard drive perfectly inside the left post.
''I just caught them sleeping and tried to get it in quick,'' Beckerman said.
Schuler made it 2-0 in the 26th minute when he latched onto a corner kick from Beckerman and headed it straight into the net. Schuler out-jumped a pair of Philadelphia defenders to get at the ball after Beckerman served it up to him near the center of the box.
''It was good to get a goal,'' Schuler said. ''It was a good ball and I was able to get up and head it in.''
The Union finally responded in the 30th minute when Sebastien Le Toux struck from the right side and finished off a cross from Justin Mapp by burying a right-footer.
''It was a gritty performance,'' Beckerman said. ''We were able to stay in there and really fight and make sure we didn't give up the draw late in the game. We were able to manage to keep the three points and it meant a lot to us.''
Former RSL midfielder Freddy Adu entered the match for Philadelphia in the 59th minute to a chorus of boos. It was Adu's first visit to Utah since 2007, when he played half a season with RSL before signing a contract with a first division team in Portugal.
