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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Elias Aguilar scored in the 14th minute and Herediano held off a 10-man Real Salt Lake 1-0 on Tuesday in the opening CONCACAF Champions League game for both.
The 21-year-old midfielder capitalized on a defensive miscue by Kyle Beckerman, who slipped and fell, and Herediano won for the third time in its last four Champions League matches.
Real Salt Lake, playing its first game in the tournament since falling to Monterrey in the 2011 finals, had the greater possession in the second half until the 58th minute when central defender Nat Borchers was ejected for a two-footed tackle on Aguilar.
It was a second straight win for Herediano, which opened the Costa Rican league season with a loss and a victory.
Herediano pressed from the opening, generated two corners in the first five minutes and forced RSL keeper Nick Rimando into a reaction save when Pablo Salazar attempted an overhead scissors kick four and a half minutes after the opening kickoff.
Salt Lake appeared to weather the early surge, but a back heel flick from Yendrick Ruiz sent Beckerman sliding, and Aguilar used the space at the top of the penalty area to drive a left-footed ball skipping past Rimando inside the right post.
Both sides had subsequent chances, with Fabian Espindola sending a flicked left-footer just wide of the left post in the 30th and Jose Sanchez forcing Rimando to tip a shot wide in the 41st.
Real Salt Lake, which had won three of its last four games in Major League Soccer, will next play in the Champions League at home against Tauro of Panama on August 21.
Herediano will be off until August 30, when it will travel to face Tauro.
