Real Salt Lake Lays An Egg On Easter Sunday At Yankee Stadium

SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake was dismantled by New York City FC at Yankee Stadium this afternoon falling 6-0. It tied the worst loss of Real Salt Lake’s history when they lost 6-0 to the New York Red Bulls in 2006.

“I think we got off to a decent start. We were pressing them high, were winning some decent balls, and creating some half chances in front of goal but I just don’t think that when we won those balls and we looked for some fast breaks we just were not determined to pull the trigger or decisive enough to really score,” Mastroeni said when asked about the poor start to the game.

Manager Pablo Mastroeni welcomed Bobby Wood and Aaron Herrera back to the starting XI but the additions sadly failed to have any impact on the outcome of the game.

From the opening whistle to the final whistle, Real Salt Lake was under intense pressure. NYCFC’s movement and clinical passing ability were on show all afternoon with Real Salt Lake failing to match the potency of NYCFC on the small and narrow Yankee Stadium pitch.

Argentine striker Valentín Castellanos opened the scoring in the 9th minute to give the hosts the early advantage following countless attacking opportunities fell by the waist side.

Oh SNAP 💥 @tatycaste11anos pic.twitter.com/XsYUOZJsBf

— New York City FC (@NYCFC) April 17, 2022

Thiago Andrade then doubled the lead in the 15th minute when Zac MacMath came off his line and failed to close down the run leaving a wide-open goal for Andrade to simply pass the ball into.

The third goal came in the form of a penalty when Tate Schmitt caught Keaton Parks with a high boot in the box. Castellanos converted the penalty sending MacMath the wrong way. At halftime, the lead was 3-0, but NYCFC was far from satisfied.

NYCFC opened the second half in a similar fashion to how the first half began.

Andrade found his brace in the 55th before Castellanos scored his hat-trick from another penalty kick following the foul committed by 17-year-old Jaziel Orozco.

THIAGOING CRAZY 🔥😜 #ForTheCity pic.twitter.com/jxKBszAHDs

— New York City FC (@NYCFC) April 17, 2022

Castellanos could not stop scoring, he added his 4th and NYCFC’s 6th in the 80th minute after MacMath gifted him the ball from a wayward attempt at clearing with his nonpreferred left boot.

NYCFC broke its club record by scoring six goals a game for the first time. Real Salt Lake was broken. Castellanos became just the second player to ever score four goals against Real Salt Lake, joining Melvin Tarley when he accomplished the feat in 2005.

The final chance of the game belonged to Real Salt Lake when NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson saved a shot off his goalline. It was clearly not meant to be.

It will take a lot for Real Salt Lake to get over this loss. Losses of this magnitude have the potential to linger and can hinder the confidence of players for weeks, if not months, to come.

The mentality, a word so often used by Mastroeni and his players, will be tested moving forward.

Next Match

Real Salt Lake will return home to play Northern Colorado Hailstorm in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup this upcoming Wednesday evening.

The kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 on April 20th.