New signings not enough for RSL in 2-0 loss to last-place San Jose

SANDY — Real Salt Lake entered Saturday's MLS return at America First Field with plenty of excitement after a busy summer transfer window, but it only took the San Jose Earthquakes 20 minutes to bring it all back down to Earth.

A distance smash hit from Cristian Espinoza was too much for Zac MacMath to handle in the 20th minute, and the Earthquakes doubled their lead just 13 minutes later for a 2-0 halftime advantage.

The scores extended RSL's clean sheet drought to eight matches in MLS play with the last shutout coming on June 15 in a 0-0 draw.

"Obviously, that's a big concern, because if you're not scoring goals, the last thing you can afford to do as a group is to concede goals," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "The second goal is two games in a row where we are conceding goals on wide free kicks. So we'll look to make some adjustments there."

MLS leading scorer Chicho Arango tweaked his hamstring in the first half and was forced to exit for RSL just before halftime, steepening an already uphill battle for the home team.

New prized attacker Diogo Goncalves started in his RSL debut with Diego Luna out due to yellow card accumulation. Still, the offense struggled to find its mark throughout the match with just four of 17 total shots making it on frame.

Lachlan Brook and Javain Brown subbed on in the second half for their RSL debuts but could not change the outcome. The loss also extends the club's MLS winless streak to four games.

The Claret and Cobalt stay at home for next week's match against New England on Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. MDT.

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