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Burling sees red as RSL pulls away late to rout SJ

Jul 24, 2011 - 4:07 AM Sandy, UT (Sports Network) - For more than one hour on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium, Real Salt Lake and the San Jose Earthquakes were locked in a scoreless draw.

But everything changed just after the hour mark when RSL's Alvaro Saborio went down inside the area after what appeared to be minimal contact from San Jose's Bobby Burling.

Referee David Gantar pointed to the penalty spot, issued a red card to Burling, and proceeded to watch the hosts pump in four goals over the final 27 minutes en route to a 4-0 win.

To be fair, Salt Lake was the better side up until that point, as Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch kept his team in the match with a number of quality saves.

However, the 'Quakes will still feel unlucky to see their winless streak extended to eight games, while RSL is now unbeaten in its last seven matches.

The contest started slowly but saw the hosts gradually take control as the first half wore on.

Busch first made two nice saves to deny Saborio before keeping out a shot from Fabian Espindola just before halftime.

San Jose didn't manage to put its first shot on goal until the 53rd minute, when Khari Stephenson forced goalkeeper Nick Rimando to parry his free kick from 35 yards.

But everything changed on the hour mark as Saborio drew the penalty kick which saw Burling sent off.

Saborio picked himself up and buried the spot kick inside the left post to put RSL on top, and he added a second goal with 15 minutes to play when Ned Grabavoy's low shot forced a diving save from Busch, with Saborio on hand to put home the rebound.

Kyle Beckerman scored three minutes later when he pounced on a loose ball inside the area to easily score from eight yards, while Jamison Olave headed home the final goal after a nice cross from substitute Arturo Alvarez.

The final score isn't pretty, but it is hardly indicative of the way this game was going up until the final 30 minutes.