Zavier Gozo and Diego Luna scored in the first half as Real Salt Lake snapped a two-game losing streak with a stress-free 2-0 victory over the Portland Timbers Saturday in Sandy, Utah.

Juan Manuel Sanabria assisted on both goals for RSL (6-3-1, 19 points) who are off to their best start since 2014 when they opened without a loss in their first 12 MLS matches.

Rafael Cabral had two saves for Salt Lake, which avenged a 3-1 season-ending defeat last October at Portland in the wild-card round of the MLS playoffs.

James Pantemis had 13 saves for the Timbers (3-6-1, 10 points) as he kept RSL from turning the match into a rout.

Real Salt Lake dominated from the start as they uncorked seven shots before the Timbers took their first attempt in the 26th minute.

After scoring one goal in the previous 225 minutes entering the game, Salt Lake repeatedly found transition opportunities with through passes against Portland’s careless back line.

Sanabria set up the first goal in the 10th minute with a long feed through the Portland defense that found Sergi Solans in stride down the middle of the pitch.

Streaking down the right wing, Gozo ran onto a laid-off pass and fired a right-footed shot from inside the box. Pantemis got a hand on the ball inside the near post but couldn’t stop it as Gozo tallied his third goal of the season.

Real Salt Lake continued their assault as Morgan Guilavogui took three promising shots in a span of seven high-paced minutes.

Pantemis made a save on a Guilavogui breakaway attempt and the RSL forward banged a shot off the crossbar and was wide right on another right-footed blast in the sequence.

Salt Lake broke through in the 28th minute on a one-two on the left side of the box, as Luna took a return pass from Sanabria and scored with a left-footed shot inside the far post for his third goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.

Luna’s goal came immediately after Portland’s lone shots on goal, one minute apart. Cabral stopped a header by Kevin Kelsy, then denied a low-percentage try by Antony Alves Santos.

In the second half, Real Salt Lake slowed the pace, happy to play in a defensive shell, which prevented the Timbers from taking a shot on goal.

–Field Level Media

Dejan Joveljic scored his fifth goal of the season and Sporting Kansas City salvaged a 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday afternoon to snap a six-match losing streak.

Joveljic’s 18th-minute tally halted a 351-minute scoreless stretch across all competitions for Sporting (1-7-2, 5 points), which has still won only twice in its last 23 MLS matches dating back to last July.

Paul Rothrock scored his fourth goal of the season early as Seattle (6-1-2, 20 points) saw its league win streak halted at three but extended its league unbeaten run to seven.

The visitors held 61% of the possession and outshot the hosts 27-11 but were punished for an uncharacteristic mistake by American World Cup hopeful Cristian Roldan.

Rothrock put the visitors in front two minutes into the match.

Alex Roldan got up the right and played an early diagonal ball from midfield toward Jesus Ferreira in the center channel.

Either Ferreira, his defender or both players deflected the ball, and Rothrock was first to the redirection on the left side of the penalty, where he guided a first-time finish across Stefan Cleveland’s body and inside the far-right post.

Joveljic leveled 16 minutes later.

As Seattle tried to play out of the back against Kansas City’s creeping pressure, Cristian Roldan badly mis-hit a backpass that appeared intended for his goalkeeper.

Joveljic reacted to reach it at the top of the penalty arc and drove a low, first-time finish through goalkeeper Andrew Thomas and over the line.

Both teams had chances to win it after halftime despite Seattle’s possession dominance.

Sounders striker Danny Musovski flashed a promising header over the goal in the 57th minute, and in the 65th, Seattle substitute Paul Arriola saw his strike from a dangerous position on the left blocked accidentally by teammate Albert Rusnak.

In the 70th minute, Cleveland recovered from his own bobble on the initial attempt to make a double save of Kalani Kossa-Rienzi and Musovski.

On the other end, Thomas thwarted Joveljic in the 82nd minute and Taylor Calheira on a difficult, spinning effort inside the box in the 85th.

–Field Level Media

Injury-plagued Toronto FC saw their depth tested but managed to hand the visiting San Jose Earthquakes their first draw of the season with a 1-1 scoreline on a chilly Saturday afternoon.

Preston Judd equaled his career-high seven goals when he tied the match for the league-leading Earthquakes (9-1-1, 28 points) in the early going. The draw comes a week after Toronto (3-3-5, 14 points) had a nine-match unbeaten run snapped with a loss to Atlanta United.

Daniel Salloi opened the scoring in the 2nd minute. A well-timed overlapping run from Raheem Edwards drew defender Benji Kikanovic away from the streaking Salloi, allowing the Hungarian international to curl it into the corner.

An outstretched Judd scored the equalizer in the 13th minute off a perfectly placed Niko Tsakiris set piece, the result of an Alonso Coello foul just outside the home team’s box. Judd was unmarked as he poked it past a helpless Luka Gavran.

An Emilio Aristizabal attempt in the 55th minute was deflected and cleared away by a sprawling Daniel. A late offside flag chalked off what looked to be a brace for Judd 10 minutes later.

On his back, San Jose center-back Reid Roberts cleared a ball off the line after Salloi chipped the goalkeeper in the 86th minute. Officials took a lengthy look at the replay to ensure the ball had not crossed the line.

Toronto’s miserable injury luck continued, with center-back Lazar Stefanovic being forced off at the half with an apparent lower-body injury. A flood of academy players were forced to fill gaping injury holes on their bench, including defender Micah Chisholm, who made his league debut in Stefanovic’s place.

For the visitors, April MLS Player of the Month Timo Werner was absent after subbing off with a hamstring injury in their Tuesday U.S. Open Cup fixture. Tsakiris came off in the second half with an apparent quad injury.

The match marked the first meeting between the two teams in more than three years. Three of their last four encounters have ended in draws.

–Field Level Media

Austin FC hopes a bolstered roster and a huge win against a Texas rival builds momentum as they host struggling St. Louis City SC on Sunday evening in a Western Conference match.

Austin FC (2-4-4, 10 points) remain home after a 2-0 win over the rival Houston Dynamo on last Saturday. Myrto Uzuni scored a goal and assisted on a tally by Jayden Nelson in the Copa Tejas series victory.

Austin snapped a seven-match MLS winless swoon dating back to a 1-0 home victory over D.C. United on March 1.

Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver stopped five shots to record his third clean sheet of the year just three days after he allowed five goals on 16 shots in a loss at San Jose.

The Verde is set for an offensive jolt with midfielder Owen Wolff set to return, even if it’s in a reserve role. Wolff, who led Austin FC last season with seven goals and eight assists, has missed the team’s first 10 games while recovering from a sports hernia but is available to return against St. Louis.

“Now that we can have probably the full roster, for the first time in the year, in the next weeks, I think everyone gets excited and everyone says, ‘Now is the moment,'” Austin coach Nico Estevez said. “I want to give a lot of credit to the players. It’s been a really tough time for everyone.”

St. Louis City (1-5-3, 6 points) travels to Austin after 3-2 loss at home against league-leading San Jose on April 25. The club went winless in league play in April, losing twice with a pair of draws, both on the road.

St. Louis City heads to Texas after a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Chicago Fire in U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 play on Wednesday. St. Louis coach Yoann Damet believes the victory will provide benefits in upcoming MLS play.

“Honestly, I like the grit and the spirit they’re showing. I’ve been speaking a lot about it, and we haven’t been rewarded enough, in my sense,” Damet said. “I think it speaks for the work the guys are putting in every day. Everybody worked really hard together, they made plays. It’s a collective effort, it’s a team, it’s a full group, and that’s what makes me happy.”

St. Louis’s nine goals through nine MLS matches is tied for second fewest in league while its minus-seven goal differential is second worst in the West. Marcel Hartel leads the club with three goals and an assist.

St. Louis City has dominated the all-time series with the Austin FC, with four wins and a draw in six meetings during MLS play.

–Field Level Media

Short-handed D.C. United will try to build off last weekend’s dramatic home win on Sunday when they visit a New York City side hoping to ride momentum from a midweek U.S. Open Cup victory over their crosstown rival.

After a slow start, the attack for D.C. (3-4-3, 12 points) has suddenly erupted with seven goals in its last two matches.

In a 4-4 draw at the New York Red Bulls on April 22, Tai Baribo scored a hat trick for his fourth, fifth and sixth league goals. Then last Saturday, Louis Munteanu scored his first goal for the club in the 84th minute and Kye Rowles had the 90th-minute winner as the Black-and-Red rallied for a 3-2 home win over Orlando.

But Baribo will miss a second straight match with an injury, manager Rene Weiler confirmed this week. And one of the candidates to replace him, Brazilian attacker Gabriel Pirani, has played his way out of consideration, Weiler said.

“He’s playing for himself instead of the team, and I dislike,” Weiler told reporters. “And I can’t see the joy in his face in the identification of our club. So he will not be in the team.”

The victory against Orlando halted a five-match league winless run for D.C. in its first full season under Weiler. Now it visits an NYCFC squad mired in a similar six-match MLS slide, with City’s last league win coming on March 14 at home against Colorado.

But Pascal Jansen’s squad earned a decisive 3-1 win at the Red Bulls in Wednesday’s Open Cup Round of 16 clash, with Raul Gustavo scoring the winner in the 39th minute and Thiago Martins adding insurance in the 57th minute.

Nicolas Fernandez Mercau leads NYCFC (3-4-3, 12 points) with eight league goals, including two in a 4-4 home draw against FC Cincinnati on April 22.

And given their current form, Jansen isn’t about to feel sad that his side will likely have their top scorer while his opponent won’t.

“Obviously a massive piece for them. An important player,” Jansen said of Baribo’s absence. “We’re coming out of a good game against Red Bull, and now the focus is on D.C., and they’re missing one of their key players. That’s tough for them, but good news for us.”

The two sides have split their last four head-to-head matches, including a pair of draws.

–Field Level Media