This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Kansas City, Kan. • On the one-month anniversary of his promotion, Real Salt Lake coach Mike Petke stood outside the visitors locker room at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City. Two questions into a postgame interview, he provided a reminder of his message in his first day on the job.

A long-term process, he called it.

But it's not without its hiccups.

Sporting Kansas City toppled Real Salt Lake to the tune of a 3-0 victory Saturday, dealing a short-handed club its second straight defeat.

"Personally, it's tough to swallow, but it's not an overnight change," Petke said. "This is a long-term process. We have some good players, and we have some players that need to step up."

A few were offered an opportunity for the latter Saturday. Captain Kyle Beckerman was sidelined with a calf injury sustained during training earlier in the week. Goalkeeper Nick Rimando also missed the match with a hamstring injury, leaving backup Matt VanOekel to deal with a Sporting KC attack that has struggled at times this season.

But Sporting KC, 4-1-3, was smooth-sailing Saturday. RSL nemesis Benny Feilhaber sparked the outcome in the 17th minute. Sporting KC defender Graham Zusi set up the goal with a pass that put the ball on a tee for Feilhaber, who plunked the inside of the opposite post from 20 yards away.

Sporting KC striker Dom Dwyer and winger Gerso Fernandes finished off the scoring after halftime.

"A really good strike," said RSL defender Chris Wingert, who wore the captain's armband Saturday. "We talked about coming out and having a good start. We got through the first 15 minutes (and then) a great strike from Benny. A little bit tough to be down 1-0 inside the first 20 (minutes)."

Foreign territory, too. At least in this matchup.

After falling to Sporting KC in the 2013 MLS Cup, Real Salt Lake won the next seven MLS matchups between the two clubs. The streak spanning 1,239 days fell in convincing fashion.

This didn't help: RSL, 2-5-2, had a goal negated by a delayed offside call in the 29th minute. Forward Yura Movsisyan struck a ball that deflected off the back of forward Joao Plata and into the net. After a conference with his assistant referee, center official Jose Rivero correctly ruled the play offside.

So it went.

RSL actually outshot Sporting KC 14-10, but it put only two of those 14 attempts on target.

Sporting KC broke a club record, extending its home unbeaten streak to 13 matches. It has not lost a home match since May 27, 2016.

RSL fell to 2-2 since Petke assumed the job.

"Mike said it best. It's a process," VanOekel said. "We'll get back onto the field on Tuesday [and] put the work in. Believe in the system and what's he's trying to accomplish here. We've all bought in, and now we'll start to make our own luck."