Castellanos scores 4 to lead NYCFC to 'embarrassing' rout of Real Salt Lake

SANDY — Less than a week after being dumped from CONCACAF Champions League, the reigning MLS Cup champions are back to play.

Taty Castellanos scored four goals, and Thiago Andrade added a brace as New York City FC extended Real Salt Lake's misery with a 6-0 rout Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

With the loss, NYCFC stretched RSL's winless skid to four-straight, including last week's disappointing 2-2 draw with Toronto FC. Sunday's result is tied for the worst-ever loss in RSL history, matching a 6-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium in 2010.

With one fortuitous match, Castellanos went from goal-less on the season for NYCFC (3-3-1, 10 points) to tied for sixth for most goals on the season, one back of a group of players tied for the league lead that includes LA Galaxy striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.

"I think everything that we stand for, we didn't bring today," RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni told KMYU of his worst defeat as a Salt Lake manager. "We were too easy to play around. We got run down our right side the whole first half, and we just didn't put up a good competitive battle today.

"Even on the offensive side, I felt like we could've been more proactive, determined to get the goals, shoot more. We just didn't have it."

Moments after Zac MacMath made a stupendous save in the opening minutes, the reigning MLS Golden Boot winner scored his first game of the 2022 campaign with a free header from inside the six-yard box that put New York City up 1-0.

The Argentine rose up unmarked in the center of the box to head home the opening goal from Santiago Rodriguez's corner kick, and the hosts were off and running. No reason to defend Castellanos on a set piece, right?

"The first goal is probably the most frustrating," Mastroeni said. "Set pieces is something that we harp on so much; we couldn't show enough tape on Castellanos and his movements.

"To get beat on that is a hard one to swallow."

Andrade doubled the advantage just six minutes later, sliding to the left side of the box and finishing Tables Magno's through ball into the bottom left corner to give NYC a 2-0 advantage early.

Things went from bad to worse when Tate Schmitt collided with Keaton Parks on a bicycle attempt in the 38th minute. The RSL homegrown was rewarded with a yellow card, and Castellanos converted from the penalty spot to push NYC's lead to 3-0 in a first half where the hosts out-shot Salt Lake 13-4 with seven shots on goal.

It was, to borrow a word from Real Salt Lake midfielder Damir Kreilach during a halftime interview, "embarrassing."

"They broke us down very easy, very cheap," the captain said.

Real Salt Lake (3-3-3, 12 points) had just 40% of possession in the first half, mustering a mere two shots on target before the break. Playing in a narrow field — allegedly measuring just 68 yards wide — in a baseball stadium with fans on only half the sidelines can only account for so much.

The other deficiencies included a failure to mark on a set piece (cue former U.S. international and FOX analyst Alexi Lalas here), a misplayed attempt to play a ball in 20 yards from goal by the goalkeeper, and a physical defense of a finish from inside the box that turned horribly wrong.

Those things aren't explained by a narrow field or a weird stadium.

Andrade continued to pour it on just under 10 minutes into the second half, scoring his second goal of the match on the counter attack in the 54th minute to make it 4-0. Moments later, Jaziel Orozco caught Castellanos with a foul near the edge of the penalty area, and the Argentine finished off his hat trick with a second penalty kick.

Castellanos scored his fourth in the 80th minute, taking advantage of a misplaced pass out of the back and rifling a shot that deflected off Orozco to go up 6-0.

"When you concede one or two, you start to hang your head a bit," Mastroeni said. "And then it's a thing of confidence."

New York City thought it had a seventh for New York, but an open goal was called back after Castellanos made contact with MacMath on a saved shot in the box in the 90th minute. As bad as things were, it could have been even worse for Real Salt Lake.

RSL will host USL League One opponent Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in a third-round U.S. Open Cup match Wednesday (7:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN+), the middle of a stretch of three games in eight days. The Sandy-based club then hits the road again to face the Portland Timbers on Saturday.

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