Patrick Ianni and Lamar Neagle each scored in the second half and the Seattle Sounders ended Real Salt Lake's unbeaten streak against MLS opponents at 29 games with a 2-1 victory Saturday night.
RSL last lost an MLS home game on May 16, 2009 - a 2-0 loss to Kansas City.
''We came into it knowing they had a streak going and we definitely wanted to end it,'' Neagle said. ''We want to be a team that ends other people's streaks and starts our own.''
Ianni opened the scoring in the 71st minute, tapping in a cross from Nate Jaqua inside the right post. The Sounders took advantage of Salt Lake (5-2-2) playing a man down after defender Jamison Olave received a red card for dragging down Mike Fucito just outside the box in the 58th minute. Fredy Montero, who came into the game as a second-half reserve, found Jaqua off a corner kick to set up the scoring play.
The goal ended Salt Lake's shutout streak at 409 minutes dating to a 1-0 loss to Portland on April 30. It was the first ejection for Olave since the 2009 season and RSL coach Jason Kreis acknowledged losing one of his top defensive players sent the game down a different trajectory.
''Decisions like that can change games and have impact on games and decide games,'' Kreis said, while arguing Olave's foul was more deserving of a yellow card than a straight red card.
Seattle (5-4-5) made it 2-0 in the 84th minute when Neagle blasted a right-footer from outside the box and squeezed the ball just inside the right post and out of goalkeeper Nick Rimando's reach. It was the first career MLS goal for Neagle and it proved valuable in offering insurance against a late RSL comeback attempt.
Salt Lake finally showed some offensive life in the 88th minute when Nelson Gonzalez tracked down a throw-in from Luis Gil and punched the ball in the back of the net to cut the Sounders' lead in half. It marked the first goal for RSL in three games after playing scoreless draws against Houston and Dallas.
Mustering scoring chances was not a problem for RSL. Finishing them proved to be an issue, though, after Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller came up with one big save after another.
''He's a world class goalkeeper and played world class tonight,'' Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said.
