VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Camilo Sanvezzo converted two penalty shots Thursday that lifted the Vancouver Whitecaps to a surprising 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake.
Vancouver won for just the fifth time this season and is tied with New England for fewest victories in MLS.
The Whitecaps win was due in large part to what was ruled to be a blatant handball in the penalty area by Collen Warner in the 43rd minute. Warner was shown a red card and Salt Lake played a man down the rest of the game.
Sanvezzo scored after that penalty was called and he delivered another penalty shot in the 53rd minute.
The third Vancouver goal came from Nizar Khalfan with 2 minutes remaining in regulation time.
Salt Lake (15-11-6) lost its fourth straight and failed to extend its lead over Dallas for third place in the Western Conference. The top three teams in each conference receive automatic playoff bids and Salt Lake's advantage over Dallas remained five points.
Vancouver (5-16-10) is out of playoff contention.
