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SANDY — Real Salt Lake forward Luis Silva was held off the scoreboard, without a shot, in the club's road trip to Canada a week ago.
That was far from the case Saturday night, when he put up three shots at home, including two on goal.
And one of them definitely counted.
Silva and Jefferson Savarino scored a goal apiece to help Real Salt Lake take a win over visiting Vancouver, 2-1, in front of 16,015 at a rain-soaked Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday.
"If I have the opportunity, I’m going to shoot," Silva said. "Unfortunately in Toronto, I got nothing. We did a lot of running; sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. Today was one of those days where movement off the ball creates space.
"I had three chances, I put one away, and I’ll take that any day."
Vancouver (3-2-1) outshot the hosts 11-9, but Nick Rimando made three saves to keep Salt Lake (2-2-1) and give them their second-straight home win after opening with a 5-1 rout to newcomers Los Angeles FC.
#RSL forward Luis Silva on his team’s 2-1 win over Vancouver. pic.twitter.com/juA0XJ3oHd
— Salt City FC (@saltcityfc) April 8, 2018
Silva gave Salt Lake a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time. The RSL striker buried the go-ahead goal just moments after referee Marcos de Oliveira waived off a potential penalty kick inside Whitecaps’ box.
Instead of protesting the no-call, Silva slammed home a setup cross from Brooks Lennon near the edge of the 18-yard box and lifted the hosts to a 1-0 halftime lead.
Savarino finished off a cross from the end line by RSL rookie Corey Baird to double the advantage, and give Salt Lake what proved to be the game-winner in the 88th minute.
"When we're clicking, our front four especially, we're a pretty fun team to watch," RSL coach Mike Petke said. "It's just been few and far between this year so far. We're looking to get back to the way we want to play. But we won 2-1."
Vancouver sub Brek Shea scored in the final minute of the match to pull one back for the Whitecaps (3-2-1).
Petke was forced to use two subs in the first 40 minutes of the match due to injuries on his back line. Demar Phillips came off just 13 minutes into the match, and former Premier League right back Adam Henley made his MLS debut as a substitute.
Marcelo Silva was forced off with an injury in the 40th minute, after already earning a yellow card for a dangerous tackle, and David Horst finished the match at center back.
Petke used his other sub to swap out Silva for midfielder Sunny in the 82nd minute.
Henley made his first appearance in an RSL uniform after opening the season with an injury.
"It was unexpected, but I was ready for it," Henley said. "It's always hard when you’ve got to jump in so early to the game, missing out on so many warmups. You just have to hit the ground running, adjust yourself and help the team any way you can."
In a game that featured five yellow cards, including four against the host side, Real Salt Lake captured a much-needed win at home after last week’s 3-1 loss at reigning MLS Cup champion Toronto FC.
"It's a 90-minute game; we’re going to have chances," Silva said. "Tonight I was able to put one away, and Jefferson did as well.
"We're happy with the three points, and we’re just going to look forward to New York City."
