Sam Johnson lifts Real Salt Lake over winless Rapids 3-2

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Sam Johnson scored the go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute and Real Salt Lake beat Colorado 3-2 to hand the winless Rapids winless their eighth straight loss Saturday night.

Johnson took Damir Kreilach’s pass in an open space in the middle of the area, and fired home a shot that went through with a deflection off defender Lalas Abubakar.

RSL (4-6-1) took a 2-0 lead on goals by Albert Rusnák in the 25th and Corey Baird in the 27th. Rusnák scored on a penalty kick, and Baird settled a long ball from Nick Besler and finished with the outside of his foot.

Kellyn Acosta took advantage of a deflection to cut the deficit to 2-1 for the Rapids (0-9-2) in first-half stoppage time. Danny Wilson tied it with his first MLS goal, a close-range finish in the 47th.

RSL goalkeeper Andrew Putna saved a penalty kick by Kei Kamara in the 59th minute. Kamara was 12 of 13 on penalties in his MLS career before the attempt.

Real Salt Lake’s Justen Glad was shown a red card in the 35th minute that was downgraded to yellow after video review.