Joao Plata’s acceleration through his penalty kick transitioned smoothly into celebration as his shot beat Colorado goalkeeper Zac McMath to his right. Plata continued his run toward the supporters section and leaped two feet in the air, brandishing a fist pump at the peak of his jump.

That 3-0 win over Colorado was his first game back after being held out due to a coaches decision and an injury. But he bounced back to score his third goal in four matches.

“Transition reaction from offense to defense, getting back into shape, being aggressive defensively,” Real Salt Lake coach Mike Petke said about what he wanted to see from Plata. “And I thought we saw some of that in this game. There’s always room for everybody — not just Joao, but everybody — to get better at things. But yeah, I saw a reaction from him.”

Petke applauded Plata for his strength in those areas back in preseason. The two butted heads to start Petke’s tenure last season, but their relationship evolved into one of mutual respect as Plata bought into Petke’s philosophy. And Plata’s play improved. Plata scored four goals in as many games in July, the beginning of RSL’s turnaround from a disastrous start to the season. Then Plata received in September his first call up to the Ecuador national team since 2014.

Plata brought the same intensity into preseason, and Petke took notice.

“Joao is capable of such big things,” Petke said in Tucson on Feb. 3. “And to see him go out there today in the first preseason match and play the way he has — not just with the ball, which everybody focuses on, but defensively, and the work rate he put in, and him not accepting certain things at certain times from players around him and voicing his [criticism] in a constructive way — all the things that I want out of somebody like Joao.”

I couldn’t fit it in my story today, but Joao Plata had a great game. Don’t just take it from me though: pic.twitter.com/WfZiPLqpMl — Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) February 4, 2018

Plata credited that mentality for his scoring spree to start the season. It was a welcomed change from last season, when it took him until the end of May to score his first goal.

“I want to score every game, I want to win every game, and last season was kind of tough in the beginning,” Plata said last month. “But now I started the right way, and I hope to continue like that.”

Plata, who scored the only two goals in RSL’s first two matches this season, missed a match due to a hamstring injury then played 70 minutes in RSL’s 3-1 loss at Toronto.

Homegrown player Corey Baird replaced Plata, and Baird scored the only RSL goal of the match fresh off an impressive MLS debut. Petke said in the next week of training that he needed to see a change in mentality from some of his players, noting that he didn’t think some of them realized they were getting complacent.

An energetic Baird, however, clearly had provided a spark in both his appearances, and he started over Plata against Vancouver on April 7.

“Always as a player you have to respect that,” Plata said. “He’s the coach, and he makes decisions.”

Plata responded quickly. Petke said Plata was in his plans for the match at NYCFC that Wednesday, but a minor injury sustained in training Sunday kept Plata in Utah.

Plata’s goal opened scoring for RSL in the 82nd minute and started a three-goal spree in the last 10 minutes of RSL’s victory over 10-man Colorado in his first match back Saturday.

“It feels great to be back on the field. It feels great to be back in the starting 11,” Plata said. “All the injuries, they get frustrating. But I feel happy to be back.”