Real Salt Lake stumbled into the stretch run of the Major League Soccer season, losing 2-0 to the last-place San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night in Sandy.
RSL (12-6-8), which made a series of moves during the recent MLS summer transfer window, remains in third place in the Western Conference.
San Jose’s Christian Espinoza scored the game’s first goal in the 20th minute, with an assist from Jackson Yueill. Espinoza became the third player in Earthquakes history with 100 MLS goal contributions, joining Chris Wondolowski (207) and Ronald Cerritos (108).
Amahl Pellegrino put the Earthquakes ahead 2-0 in the 33rd minute.
The Earthquakes (5-19-2) remain in last place (14th) in the Western Conference.
Real Salt Lake had a 17-15 edge in shots, but San Jose had a 7-4 edge in shots on goal.
RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath made three saves, while his San Jose counterpart, Daniel, stopped four shots.
After its last game — a 3-0 loss to Houston in a Leagues Cup match on Aug. 5 — Real Salt Lake was busy in the MLS summer transfer window, with five new players joining the club: forwards Benji Michel and Dominik Marczuk, midfielders Lachlan Brook and Diogo Gonçalves, and defender Javain Brown.
Outgoing RSL players included Andrés Gómez (sold to French club Stade Rennais), who was having a breakout season, with 13 goals and nine assists.
Real Salt Lake will return to action next Saturday (7:30 p.m. at America First Field) against the New England Revolution.