Real Salt Lake didn't show much sign of fatigue in playing their second game in four days on Saturday night, and much like Wednesday's shutout of Montreal, the RSL defense made sure Nick Rimando didn't have much to do.
Riding a first-half goal from Alvaro Saborio, and stingy defending that limited the Rapids to just one shot on goal, RSL cruised to a 2-0 victory over Colorado at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Saborio headed home a perfect Tony Beltran cross in the 20th minute to give RSL the lead. An insurance goal came in the second half when Espindola took down a long Luis Gil pass and slotted home a clean finish. His handling of the pass wasn't quite as clean, with replays showing a handball missed by referee Jair Marrufo.
Espindola's controversial insurance goal didn't matter much because Colorado never did come close to testing Rimando, though the Rapids did show more offensive life later in the match after the inclusion of rookie Tony Cascio.
Here are the match highlights:
RSL returns to action on Saturday against Sporting Kansas City in a showdown of first-place teams, while the Rapids face a tough test with a trip to Seattle.
What did you think of the match? Think RSL is the strongest team in MLS? Disappointed with Colorado's approach to the match?
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