SANDY, Utah (AP) – Cristian Arango scored twice in the first half en route to his second hat trick of the season, Anderson Julio added two goals with an assist from Arango on one of them and Real Salt Lake lead of the Western Conference continued. best start in franchise history with a 5-1 rout of Austin FC on Saturday night, extending his unbeaten streak to 13.
Arango used Chukwuemeka Eneli’s first career assist to score in the 16th minute to give Real Salt Lake (9-2-6) the lead.
Julio followed with a double — his fifth and sixth of the season — for a 3-0 lead. He took a pass from Brian Ojeda and scored in the 24th minute and added another goal in the 31st with assists from Andrés Gómez and Arango.
Defender Andrew Brody’s first assist of the season set up Arango’s second in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give Real Salt Lake a 4-0 halftime lead.
Arango completed his second three-goal effort of the season when he scored unassisted in the 71st minute. The 29-year-old forward, in his fourth season in the league, topped the race for the Golden Boot award with his 16th goal of the season. DC United’s Christian Benteke is the closest with 13. Arango scored all three goals in a 3-1 win over St. Louis City for his first hat-trick.
Austin (6-6-5) avoided a shutout when Alex Ring scored two minutes into the period for his first goal of the season.
Zac MacMath finished with three saves for Real Salt Lake. Brad Stuver had five hits for Austin.
Real Salt Lake returns to action on the road against CF Montreal on June 15. Austin is also free until the 15th when he travels to play the Colorado Rapids.
