Inside the confines of its Rice-Eccles Stadium home field, Real Salt Lake once again looked a lot like the team that dismantled D.C. United only a few weeks ago.
RSL picked apart the defense of the San Jose Earthquakes early and often on its way to a convincing 4-0 victory in the club's first U.S. Open Cup play-in game on Wednesday evening.
It marked the second consecutive blowout win for the RSL side at home and assured them of moving onto a second play-in game at Columbus on May 27 and a step closer to earning a spot in the tournament proper for the first time since 2006.
Kyle Beckerman led the way with two first-half goals that helped put things out of reach for San Jose in a hurry.
Beckerman struck first in the 21st minute for Salt Lake's initial goal. Fellow midfielder Andy Williams angled a corner kick up to Matias Mantilla near the top of the area. Mantilla dove forward and headed the ball toward the goal. It sputtered around for a bit before Beckerman latched onto the ball in the goalmouth and tapped it in.
He produced a second unassisted goal in the 33rd minute to put RSL up 2-0. Beckerman dribbled around Adam Smarte and let fly from about 28 yards out, rifling a long bomb past Earthquakes goalkeeper Preston Burpo and into the back of the net.
RSL wasted no time getting its third goal of the game when Yura Movsisyan scored literally seconds later. Movsisyan took a feed from Matias Cordoba and threaded the ball between Burpo and defender James Riley for the score.
Movsisyan nearly added a fourth goal in the 39th minute after snagging a clearance throw by Burpo that came right at him. He dribbled into the area, but was stopped the second time around by Riley and Burpo.
RSL finally got that elusive fourth goal in the 90th minute when Williams took a feed from Tino Nunez and fired the ball at the far post. He buried the ball in the corner of the net, for his third goal in four Open Cup home games for RSL.
The quick strike ability shown by RSL not only buried the Earthquakes, it also erased the good efforts of Burpo earlier in the half.
He stopped Robbie Findley in the fourth minute when Findley tried to strike from the near post. The shot was on frame, but Burpo dove and palmed the ball wide at the bar.
Chris Wingert sent a lob toward the net from the sideline in the 18th minute, but Burpo pushed that shot over the crossbar. An ensuing corner kick fell to Movsisyan. He delivered a spot-on header, but that shot, too, was batted away by the San Jose goalkeeper.
San Jose struggled to generate much momentum after losing Jay Ayres and Ryan Cochrane to injuries early in the first half. The two collided while battling for a high ball in the ninth minute. Ayres bloodied his nose in the collision and Cochrane had a bleeding laceration in his forehead.
Both players remained down on the turf for nearly five minutes before being helped to the locker room. San Jose manager Frank Yallop was forced into the two early substitutions, bringing in Riley and Jason Hernandez.
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
