Real Salt Lake routs Austin 5-1 as unbeaten run hits 13

SANDY, Utah (AP) — Cristian Arango scored twice in the first half on the way to his second hat trick of the season, Anderson Julio added two goals with an assist from Arango on one of them and Western Conference-leading Real Salt Lake continued the best start in franchise history with a 5-1 rout of Austin FC on Saturday night, upping its unbeaten streak to 13.

Arango used Chukwuemeka Eneli’s first career assist to score in the 16th minute and give Real Salt Lake (9-2-6) the lead.

Julio followed with back-to-back goals — his fifth and sixth of the season — for a 3-0 advantage. He took a pass from Braian 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 netter in the fifth minute of stoppage time to put Real Salt Lake up 4-0 at halftime.

Arango polished off 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, took over the top spot in the race for the Golden Boot Award with his 16th goal of the campaign. D.C. United’s Christian Benteke is the next closest with 13. Arango scored all three goals in a 3-1 victory over St. Louis City for his first hat trick.

Austin (6-6-5) avoided being shut out when Alex Ring scored two minutes into stoppage time for his first goal this season.

Zac MacMath finished with three saves for Real Salt Lake. Brad Stuver saved five shots for Austin.

Real Salt Lake returns to action on the road against CF Montreal on June 15. Austin is also off until the 15th when it travels to play the Colorado Rapids.