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RSL falls hard to New York City FC 4-0

NYCFC recorded their first-ever win against RSL in true fashion, steamrolling the visitors with four goals.

MLS: Real Salt Lake at New York City FC Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Real Salt Lake dropped another result by an embarrassing scoreline, losing to New York City FC 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. NYC (5-0-1) remains at the top of the table and stays undefeated through six games, while RSL falls to 2-3-1 on the season. This is the first time NYC has ever topped RSL through four meetings.

Mike Petke fielded virtually the same lineup we saw last week against Vancouver, save for the two injured defenders in Marcelo Silva and Demar Phillips. David Horst and Adam Henley stepped in their spots, respectively.

NYCFC opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a goal from Ismael Tajouri, his fourth of the season. Some impressive forward movement from the home side saw a cross coming in from the right side when RSL’s defenders were caught ball watching a bit. A poor clearance found its way right to Tajouri’s feet, who was able to rip a shot into the top corner well out of Rimando’s reach, putting the home side up 1-0.

It didn’t get any better for the visitors, when Justen Glad clipped the ankles of Maxi Moralez from behind in the box, which referee Mark Geiger correctly called for a penalty kick. Moralez calmly stepped up to the spot and buried it in the top left corner, giving the league leaders a comfy 2-0 advantage in the 30th minute.

RSL’s defense continued to look completely disjointed, not able to keep up with NYC’s quick runs down the right flank as they put in ball after ball behind RSL’s backline.

The onslaught continued in the 41st minute when Jo Inge Berget broke free with the ball behind the defense, blew right past David Horst and was able to easily slot the ball into the net past Rimando, putting NYCFC up 3-0 before the halftime whistle had even blown.

RSL went into the half shortly after the third goal, trailing the game 3-0, being outshot 11-4, and losing the majority of possession to NYC, who controlled the game 69%-31% through the first 45 minutes.

Pablo Ruiz made his MLS debut as Petke sent him on in the 58th minute for Luis Silva, in hopes of injecting some life into the attack. The 19-year-old Argentine was signed in the offseason, making two appearances with the Monarchs before making his way onto the field with the first team tonight.

RSL’s defense yet again took on the likeness of Swiss cheese and let the NYC offense run right through them to get their fourth on the night, this time the finish coming from Ebenezer Ofori, with the assists coming from Jesus Medina and none other than Maxi Moralez. The home side would cruise along to a 4-0 lead in the 70th minute.

While the final ten minutes or so showed some decent play from RSL in the final third after bringing Alfredo Ortuno on — including a diving header from Sebastian Saucedo that was cleared off the line in the dying minutes — it wasn’t nearly enough as NYC sailed comfortably to their fifth win of the season, notching 26 shots and controlling 66% of possession.


Scoring

12’ NYC — Tajouri
30’ NYC — Moralez (PK)
41’ NYC — Berget (Medina, Matarrita)
70’ NYC — Ofori (Medina, Moralez)

Lineups

RSL
Rimando; Lennon, Horst, Glad, Henley; Beckerman, Kreilach (Saucedo 77’); Savarino, Rusnak, Baird (Ortuno 74’); L Silva (Ruiz 58’)

NYCFC
Johnson; Tinnerholm, Chanot, Callens (Ibeagha 75’), Matarrita; Ofori; Medina, Moralez, Herrera, Tajouri (Ring 66’); Berget (Villa 59’)

Discipline

32’ RSL — Kyle Beckerman — yellow card