SALT LAKE CITY — There will be a lot of Houston Dynamo fans in Utah next week.

Real Salt Lake controlled its own destiny heading into Sunday’s season finale at Portland Timbers FC — win, and you’re in to the playoffs.

Even a draw would help.

Now, all they can do is watch as the rest of the league plays out.

Sebastian Blanco had a goal and an assist, and the Portland Timbers picked up their second win over Real Salt Lake in three games with a 3-0 victory Sunday afternoon at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.

“I just think that we were unfortunate in some of the goals,” RSL defender Brooks Lennon said after the match. “A couple of people got caught out of position, and it was just an unfortunate night.”

With the loss, Real Salt Lake (14-13-7, 49 points) was all-but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in its final game of the regular season. With the win, Portland officially clinched a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs.

RSL has hope — but those hopes are on dire life support.

“Had we not dropped one or two points at home when we did, this would’ve been a non-factor," RSL coach Mike Petke said after the match. "Could’ve been, would’ve been; it’s not just about tonight … but we didn’t find the back of the net.”

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Playoff spot on the line Sunday for Real Salt Lake in season finale at Portland

It’s simple: win, and you’re in.

Larrys Mabiala opened the scoring 15 minutes into the match, rounding the RSL defense on a free kick by Diego Valeri to net his fifth goal of the season and put the host Timbers up, 1-0.

Much like they did two weeks ago in a 4-1 win at Rio Tinto Stadium, the Timbers held steady possession and looked to attack RSL on the counter, blasting eight shots goal to five against in the first half.

Still, Portland could only put three shots on target — and the lone difference was Mabiala’s flick in the 15th minute of the match.

"The first half was to me a continuation of the last time we played them," Petke said. "We had some chances, didn’t convert them, pushed some players forward, and they got the third goal."

Justen Glad nearly equalized five minutes after the break, slotting a ball that Kyle Beckerman headed into front of the goal off a corner kick toward the frame. But Portland goalkeeper Steve Clark made a point-blank save to keep the Timbers up, 1-0 in the 50th minute.

“He came up with three to four big saves tonight, and it’s a credit to him for those saves,” Lennon said after the game on the KSL.com live stream. “But if we finish those chances, we could be coming out of here with a different result. We didn’t; we need to go back to the drawing board, see what went wrong, and fix it.”

Instead, it was Diego Chara who netted a second-half goal, running on to a through-ball from Blanco to double the Timbers’ advantage in the 68th minute.

Blanco added his team-high 10th goal of the season in the final minutes, drilling home a pass from Lucas Melano in the 87th minute, a goal that will keep RSL schedule watching while idle in the final weekend of the regular season.

The loss, combined with LA Galaxy’s 3-1 win at Minnesota on Sunday, puts Real Salt Lake and just one point ahead of Los Angeles for the sixth and final playoff spot from the Western Conference.

The Galaxy (13-11-9, 48 points) end the regular season next Sunday against the Houston Dynamo. A win will secure postseason qualification for the Zlatan Ibrahimovic-led side.

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