Real Salt Lake held off host Atlanta United FC for a 3-2 victory in a Major League Soccer game on Saturday night.
RSL took two-goal leads twice in the game but Atlanta responded to keep the result in doubt until the end.
Forward Sergi Solans — a former Oregon State and UCLA standout drafted by Real Salt Lake last year — scored his first professional goal in the 23rd minute off a perfect fast-break pass from Morgan Guilavogui to give RSL (2-1-0) a 1-0 lead.
Midfielder Aiden Hezarkhani added a goal four minutes later to give RSL a 2-0 advantage.
Russian forward Aleksei Miranchuk scored for Atlanta (0-3-0) in the 38th minute to make it 2-1.
Zavier Gozo restored RSL’s two-goal edge in the 40th minute, scoring with assists from Philip Quinton and Justen Glad, and RSL led 3-1 at halftime.
Atlanta’s Miranchuk scored his second goal of the game in the 74th minute to make it 3-2, and RSL endured some tense moments down the stretch to hold on for the win.
Winless Atlanta had a big edge in possession, 57.9 minutes to 42.1, and a 16-10 edge in shots, but RSL had a 5-4 advantage in shots on target.
RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral and his Atlanta counterpart, Lucas Hovos, each made two saves in the game.
Real Salt Lake will return home to host Austin FC on Saturday, March 14 (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).
