Real Salt Lake stumbled into the final stretch of the Major League Soccer season, losing 2-0 to last-place San Jose Earthquakes in Sandy on Saturday night.

RSL (12-6-8), which made a number of moves in MLS’s recent summer transfer window, remains in third place in the Western Conference.

San Jose’s Christian Espinoza scored the game’s first goal in the 20th minute, with an assist from Jackson Yueill. Espinoza became the third player in Earthquakes history with 100 MLS goal involvements, joining Chris Wondolowski (207) and Ronald Cerritos (108).

Amahl Pellegrino gave the Earthquakes a 2-0 lead in the 33rd minute.

The Earthquakes (5-19-2) remain in last place (14th) in the Western Conference.

Real Salt Lake had a 17-15 advantage in shots, but San Jose had a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal.

RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath stopped three shots, while his San Jose counterpart Daniel stopped four shots.

Following its last game – a 3-0 loss to Houston in Leagues Cup play on August 5 – Real Salt Lake has been busy in the MLS summer transfer window, signing five new players: strikers Benji Michel and Dominik Marczuk, midfielders Lachlan Brook and Diogo Gonçalves, and defender Javain Brown.

Among the departing RSL players was Andrés Gómez (sold to French club Stade Rennais), who had an outstanding performance this season with 13 goals and nine assists.

Real Salt Lake will face the New England Revolution again next Saturday (7:30 p.m. at America First Field).