Taty Castellanos broke out of a goal-scoring slump in a big way, setting a single-game club record with four goals as New York City FC bounced back from a midweek Concacaf Champions League exit to rout Real Salt Lake, 6-0, Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
An unmarked Castellanos opened his account in the ninth minute, latching onto a Santiago Rodriguez corner kick and powering his header off the legs of Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Zac MacMath.
Six minutes later, Thiago Andrade beat MacMath to a Talles Magno through ball, took a touch around the goalkeeper and calmly deposited into the empty net to double NYCFC’s lead.
Castellanos, last year's Golden Boot presented by Audi winner, added his second goal in the 40th minute, sending MacMath the wrong way on his penalty kick after Tate Schmitt caught Keaton Parks with a high boot in the box.
Andrade had his brace 10 minutes into the second half with a clinical finish after a sensational pass from Rodriguez. And just two minutes later, Castellanos buried his second PK of the game to complete his third career hat trick and then capitalized on a poor clearance attempt to net his fourth goal 10 minutes from full time.
Goals
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: Hangover? What CCL hangover? It was a bright response from NYCFC after a midweek Champions League elimination in the semifinal round by the Seattle Sounders. The Cityzens struck twice in the opening 15 minutes, added a third from the penalty spot in the 40th minute and tacked on three more after halftime in just their second regular season win. Real Salt Lake, now winless in four straight, couldn’t match their previous trip east, a 3-2 win over the New England Revolution.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: After winning the Golden Boot a year ago, Taty Castellanos went scoreless in his first five regular season matches. But he opened his account with this goal. Will that be the spark that opens the floodgates? It was on the day.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Castellanos led the way with his second career hat trick — the other against the New York Red Bulls, also at Yankee Stadium — and added a fourth goal to set a club single-game record and put the disappointment of a CCL ouster in the rear-view mirror.
Next Up
- NYC: Sunday, April 24 vs. Toronto FC | 5 pm ET (MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US; on TSN in Canada) | MLS regular season
- RSL: Wednesday, April 20 vs. Northern Colorado | 9:30 pm ET (ESPN+) | US Open Cup 3rd Round
