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SANDY — Major League Soccer’s lone unbeaten team remained that way Saturday night.
Thanks to Maxi Urruti.
Urruti scored twice, and Matt Hedges added a goal as FC Dallas remained unbeaten in MLS play with a 3-0 win over Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Urruti opened the scoring on a penalty kick in the third minute. RSL’s Demar Phillips was called for a handball in the box, and Urruti stepped up to the spot to give Dallas (5-0-3) a 1-0 advantage at halftime.
"To be quite honest, the game plan wasn't working, even before the penalty kick," RSL coach Mike Petke said. "I could just see it. I didn't prepare them well this week. I have to prepare them better next week for New England; that's what it all comes down to.
"I didn't prepare them well enough. That's what it comes down to; I'm not taking one for the team. That's just the way I look at it."
Salt Lake (2-6-2) outshot Dallas 9-5 for the remainder of the half, but the Hoops blocked all three of RSL’s shots on target to keep the advantage through the opening 45 minutes.
FC Dallas entered the contest as the last remaining unbeaten team in Major League Soccer, boasting a record of 4-0-3 and facing an RSL side the thad lost back-to-back games after last week’s 3-0 loss at Sporting Kansas City.
Hedges doubled the advantage in the 66th minute, heading home a corner kick from Kellyn Acosta to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Urruti added his second marker on a counterattack at the beginning of second-half stoppage time.
"The only way I know how to get out of a rut is to keep working hard," RSL defender Chris Wingert said. "Put it in every day, and we need that effort from anybody and everybody on the squad."
RSL was without captain Kyle Beckerman, who sat out Saturday night’s contest with a calf strain. He became the eighth player on the Salt Lake side’s injured list, joining Chad Barrett (knee), David Horst (knee), Jordan Allen (quad), Justen Glad (knee), Tony Beltran (back), Aaron Maund (hamstring) and Nick Rimando (hamstring). Defender Chris Schuler also missed the match while serving a suspension by the MLS disciplinary committee.
The club will also lose key contributors like Brooks Lennon and Sebastian Saucedo, who will depart next week to join the U.S. national team for the U-20 World Cup.
"We're a little bit thin right now, but there is no time to feel sorry for ourselves," Wingert said. "Everyone called upon has to give 100 percent, and hopefully we can get some guys healthy and get a good result on the road. That would be really encouraging."
The match was Javier Morales’ first in Rio Tinto Stadium since he signed a free-agent contract with Dallas last December after RSL didn’t exercise a club option. Morales spent 10 years with Real Salt Lake, accumulating a franchise-best 81 assists and 49 goals in 240 appearances.
The Argentine did not play Saturday.
