SANDY, Utah (ABC4 Sports) - In its final regular season home game of the year, Real Salt Lake came up with its biggest victory of the season.
Diogo Gonçalves scored the only goal of the match in the 39th minute, and goalkeeper Rafael Cabral made two spectacular saves in stoppage time, as RSL held on for a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids to move back above the MLS playoff line.
With the full three points, Real Salt Lake (12-16-4) moves into ninth place in the Western Conference, and is in position to qualify for the play-in game in the Western Conference. RSL has two games left in the season, both on the road at Seattle and St. Louis City.
The club can conceivably clinch a playoff spot and a top-seven seed with two more victories. As of today, RSL would face FC Dallas on the road in a play-in game to earn the 8-seed.
The Rapids got off 17 shots, but Cabral was everywhere, making three saves for his ninth clean sheet of the season. Cabral has played in every minute of every game this season for Real Salt Lake.
RSL applied the majority of pressure in the first half, and it paid off in the 39th minute. Rwan Cruz served up a perfectly placed ball in the box to Gonçalves, who blasted it into the corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season. The assist from Cruz marked his first of the season.
While RSL generated a few scoring chances in the second half, Cabral's outstanding play in the net was enough for Real Salt Lake to hold on for the victory.
RSL has now won two in a row after dropping five of its last six games before that.
Real Salt Lake now has 40 points, tied with Colorado, but owns the tiebreaker over the Rapids by virtue of having more victories, 12-11.
Real Salt Lake controls its playoff destiny with two games remaining. RSL will travel to Seattle on October 11th for its next to last game starting at 7:30 p.m.