Real Salt Lake preserved its undefeated home record on Saturday night with a 2-1 victory over FC Dallas, overcoming a weak start and a Dallas equalizer to earn what was characterized as an “ugly” win.

RSL head coach Jason Kreis said, “That’s probably one of the worst games we’ve played this season, in my opinion. And maybe that’s a good thing because maybe we need to learn how to win ugly, and tonight was that case.”

Kreis, who was suspended from the bench on Saturday after giving an interview that was highly critical of Major League Soccer’s refereeing, switched his formation to a 3-5-2 to better match up with Dallas. The change seemed to give his players some difficulty, particularly early on in the match. Meanwhile, the Hoops seemed to struggle with the playing surface at Rice-Eccles Stadium a bit, and the game took on a bit of a comical tone as both teams struggled to control the ball.

RSL took the lead in the 28th minute after Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala’s clearance bounced off two of his teammates and into the path of Real midfielder Javier Morales. Morales collected the bouncing ball and sent it into an empty net, putting Salt Lake up 1-0. Although Kenny Cooper and Abe Thompson both had chances to equalize before halftime, the Hoops were unable to break through.

However, Cooper came back with a tremendous goal in 56th minute. The Dallas striker ran onto a long ball from Andre Rocha on the right flank, beat Real defender Nat Borchers, and sent a long shot past Nick Rimando for the equalizer.

After surrendering a two-goal lead against the Galaxy last weekend, RSL was pressing for another goal, but quick work from Sala and Duilio Davino kept Salt Lake from scoring immediately. However, Real midfielder Andy Williams hit a through-ball behind the Hoops defense in the 73rd minute to find Kyle Beckerman, who beat Sala for the winning goal.

Beckerman said of the comeback, “It was great. It was our first time to come back to get the win after being tied. It was big for us. We stepped over a hurdle tonight and now we can look forward now that we know we can win games like that.”

Meanwhile, Dallas was obviously upset with the result. “We’re not content, we need to work better. We let too many points get away from us, and we really need to work hard for next weekend’s game,” said Davino.

Scoring Summary:
RSL — Javier Morales 1 (unassisted) 28
DAL — Kenny Cooper 5 (Andre Rocha 3) 56
RSL — Kyle Beckerman 3 (Andy Williams 1) 73

FC Dallas — Dario Sala, Drew Moor, Duilio Davino, Adrian Serioux (Aaron Pitchkolan 71), Andre Rocha (Dominic Oduro 84), Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa (Ricardinho 77), Juan Toja, Arturo Alvarez, Kenny Cooper, Abe Thompson.

Substitutes Not Used: Mike Grazcyk, Dax McCarty, Bobby Rhine, Anthony Wallace

Real Salt Lake — Nick Rimando, Jamison Olave (Andy Williams 40), Matias Mantilla, Nat Borchers, Tony Beltran, Kyle Beckerman, Dema Kovalenko, Javier Morales (Kenny Cutler 57), Chris Wingert, Fabian Espindola (Robbie Findley 80), Kenny Deuchar.

Substitutes Not Used: David Horst, Dustin Kirby, Yura Movsisyan, Chris Seitz

Misconduct Summary:
RSL — Dema Kovalenko (caution; Reckless Foul) 32
DAL — Drew Moor (caution; Reckless Foul) 59

Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee’s Assistants: Daniel Belleau; Hector Vergara
4th official: Tyler Ploeger
Time of game: 1:50
Attendance: 12,173
Weather: Clear -and- 60 degrees