Paulinho Gives Salsa 1-0 Victory : Soccer: Second-half goal in Montreal moves team into second place.

The Salsa moved into second place in the American Professional Soccer League with a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Impact in front of 7,129 Friday night at Claude Robillard Stadium.

The goal came 12 minutes into the second half when Paulinho easily kicked the ball into an open net from about two feet out. It was his team-leading 10th goal of the season.

The goal was uncontested in part because of a fine assist from Phillip Gyau, whose pass in front of the goal mouth fooled the Montreal goalkeeper.

The Salsa improved to 11-4 and took over second place from the Colorado Foxes. Only Vancouver, with 112 points, leads the Salsa, which has 85 points. Colorado has 79 points.

“This was a tremendous win for us,” Salsa Coach Rildo Menezes said. “It moves us up in the standings and really makes all our work pay off.”

Montreal had the offensive advantage much of the second half but could not convert.

Ian Feuer, the Salsa’s goalkeeper, had two saves and defender Lawrence Lozzano was selected player of the game.

Montreal appeared to score in the closing minutes but as the ball went in the goal, the Impact was ruled offsides.

Los Angeles concludes its trip with a game at Toronto at 4:30 p.m. today.