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Benny Feilhaber had a wonder strike from 35 yards out, but Real Salt Lake was able to put one in the back of the net in both halves, giving them a 2-1 win over Sporting KC.
The win put Real Salt Lake three points out of a playoff spot, while Sporting KC stayed in fourth place in the Western Conference.
Sporting KC's back line was playing with fire for most of the first half and in the 34th minute, Real Salt Lake made them pay. Javier Morales effortlessly cut through Marcel de Jong and Matt Besler in the center of the box to get an opening before knocking it past Tim Melia for the score.
About ten minutes later and Real Salt Lake continued to control the match. Jaoa Plata nearly doubled the lead when he got an open shot but knocked it off the crossbar. This kept it a 1-0 match heading into halftime.
In the second half, Peter Vermes immediate made two subs with Amadou Dia coming on for Marcel de Jong and Benny Feilhaber for Soni Mustivar. The Feilhaber sub immediately paid dividends in the 50th minute when he had some space 35 yards out at the top of the box. He sailed a ball inside the post for his career-high seventh goal of the season and equalized the match in immediate and dramatic fashion.
Real Salt Lake would take the lead right back, however. In the 73rd minute, Olmes Garcia got in behind the defense and was clipped in the box by Tim Melia and Real Salt Lake was awarded a penalty. Fortunately for Sporting KC, Melia was only given a yellow card. Melia guessed right on the penalty but the shot was out of his reach as Plata buried it inside the post to give Real Salt Lake the 2-1 lead.
At this point, the fatigue of playing three matches in seven days really hit Sporting KC as they looked dead on their feet for the remainder of the match. Having already done enough to get a lead, Real Salt Lake was able to take their 2-1 advantage all the way to the final whistle.
Sporting KC will get a week of rest before hosting the Houston Dynamo next Saturday at 7:30 p.m.