Real Salt Lake ended a four-match winless streak with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Houston Dynamo at the Rio Tinto Stadium this morning.
The hosts started much the better of both sides and almost went ahead on 24 minutes when Justen Glad saw his header come back off the crossbar.
Jeff Cassar's men continued to threaten and Olmes Garcia perhaps should have opened the scoring on the half-hour mark but his close-range effort was saved by Tyler Deric.
The breakthrough came shortly after, as Javier Morales curled home the opener from outside the area on 36 minutes to give Real a narrow half-time advantage.
Dynamo, who had one first-half shot, saw their comeback bid grow considerably steeper on 51 minutes when Kofi Sarkodie was given his marching orders with a straight red card.
Cassar's side took full advantage and doubled their lead on 65 minutes through Joao Plata, who tapped home Morales's teasing ball to seal the win.
Shane Callaghan
