San Jose Earthquakes ended a five-game winless stretch with a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday at PayPal Park. The Earthquakes improved to 14-9-10, earning 52 points and moving into third place in the Western Conference standings.

The hosts secured an early lead with two goals in the first 17 minutes. Ousseni Bouda opened the scoring in the second minute with a free kick, marking his seventh goal of the season and second in his last 23 appearances. Shortly after, in the 17th minute, Benji Kikanovic scored his first Major League Soccer goal since June 22, 2024, further extending San Jose’s advantage.

Real Salt Lake responded in the 23rd minute as Juan Manuel Sanabria found the net, ending a shutout bid by the Earthquakes and narrowing the deficit. Despite the goal, Salt Lake was unable to mount a comeback, concluding their three-game winning streak.

The result allowed San Jose to leapfrog Houston Dynamo by a single point in the standings, although Houston was scheduled to play Sunday and could reclaim the position. The Earthquakes also moved ahead of St. Louis City SC, which suffered a home defeat to San Diego. San Jose now trails second-place FC Dallas by three points; Dallas has one more win and one game remaining in the regular season.

Real Salt Lake fell to 12-15-6 with 42 points and dropped from ninth to 10th place after the loss and a concurrent win by the LA Galaxy over Austin FC. The outcome leaves Salt Lake outside the playoff positions as the regular season nears its conclusion.