Castellanos’ team-record four goals powers NYCFC to 6-0 win over Real Salt Lake
Courtesy: NYCFC
By Chris Tsakonas
No New York City FC player has ever scored four goals in a game.
That is, until Taty Castellanos broke the record this afternoon, sparking an attacking explosion for New York City FC, who beat Real Salt Lake 6-0 for their first win in over a month.
“I feel happy first and foremost for the team and the locker room,” Castellanos said after the game.
The scoring started early for NYCFC. In the 9th minute, a corner kick led to a cross from Santi Rodriguez that found Castellanos for the first goal of the game.
Just six minutes later, Talles Magno sent a through ball forward to Thiago Andrade, and he finished past keeper Zac McMath to get New York City FC a 2-0 lead.
“We feel the game was won in the first 20-25 minutes,” Castellanos said. “It was all about pressuring their backline, and then in the second half the game opened up for us and the chances kept on coming.”
In the 39th minute, NYCFC drew a penalty when Keaton Parks took a bump from Tate Schmitt. Schmitt was given a yellow for the challenge, and Castellanos finished the penalty to make it 3-0.
Ten minutes into the second half, New York City FC made it 4-0. On the counterattack, Rodriguez slotted a through ball to Thiago, and he finished again to get a brace of his own.
Less than a minute after that, Salt Lake conceded another penalty kick after a hard challenge from Jaziel Orozco. Castellanos took it again, and he got the same result, converting to get a hat trick and a 5-0 NYCFC lead.
New York City FC tacked on yet another goal in the 80th minute. McMath tried to clear the ball out of his own box, but it was intercepted by Castellanos at the top of the box, and he finished for his fourth goal of the game.
With the four goal performance, Castellanos is now just one goal shy of the lead for the Golden Boot, which is currently a three way tie between Brandon Vazquez (FC Cincinnati), Javier Hernandez (LA Galaxy), and Jesus Ferriera (FC Dallas).
“Just happy to be able to get on the scoresheet and in the running for the Golden Boot,” Castellanos said.
Heber finished off a shot from Castellanos in the 90th minute, but it was called back for a foul in the box on McMath.
The win is a bright spot for New York City FC, coming just five days after they were eliminated from the Champions League semifinals by Seattle.
“After getting eliminated there was no excuse,” Castellanos said. “We flipped the switch pretty easily”
New York City FC now look to earn back to back wins next weekend, as they’ll head over to Queens to host Toronto FC at Citi Field. It’s the second of five straight home games for NYCFC.