Eloy Room made four saves for the Columbus Crew in a 0-0 tie against host Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah, on Saturday.
The Crew (4-5-6, 18 points) have a win and two ties in their past three games after Room earned his fourth shutout this season.
RSL (8-4-5, 29 points) remained unbeaten at home with six wins and two ties. Zac MacMath had two saves for his seventh shutout.
Salt Lake has a 6-1-4 record vs. the Crew in the past 11 home games, including playoffs.
The Crew had two of the game’s three shots on goal through 45 minutes despite being saddled by injuries again with their top three scorers absent.
Lucas Zelarayan (four goals), Derrick Etienne Jr. (three) and Erik Hurtado (three) have accounted for 10 of the team’s 18 goals.
Salt Lake’s lone attempt on target in the first half was a try by Rubio Rubin in the 8th minute.
The Crew tested MacMath with a long-range effort by Pedro Santos to the upper right corner in the 23rd minute and another long try by James Igbekeme 13 minutes later.
Former Crew forward Justin Meram produced a quality chance for RSL in the 62nd minute when he sent Room diving to his right to stop a drive to the right post.
Sergio Cordova got behind the Crew defense in the 69th minute only to have Room swat the ball off his foot.
Columbus was trying to win consecutive away matches for the first time since wins over Cincinnati and Atlanta in 2019.
This was the first time the teams have played each other since RSL’s 1-0 home victory on July 3, 2019.
That was part of three consecutive home shutouts for RSL, a feat they accomplished Saturday for the first time since then.
Columbus continues on the road vs. Toronto FC on Wednesday while Real Salt Lake plays at Minnesota on July 3.
–Field Level Media