Fernandez swings the free kick that changed the night
Seven league matches without a win. That was the number New York City FC carried into Rio Tinto Stadium overnight, and it took them 41 minutes to start burying it.
Agustin Ojeda floated the free kick in. Nicolas Fernandez came to meet it and hammered his shot past Rafael Cabral before the goalkeeper could set himself. One goal, and a club that had not won in MLS since July 25 suddenly had something to protect.
It was Fernandez’s 15th goal of the season, which puts him level with Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge, third in the league scoring charts. He has two goals and three assists in his last six league outings. The timing matters for a side that spent most of August dropping points it could not afford.
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Luighi finishes the counter, Freese finishes the job
The second goal arrived in the 62nd minute and came from nothing. Tayvon Gray launched a long ball, Ojeda ran onto it, cut inside the box and squared it. Luighi’s first touch took it past Cabral at the far post. Fourth of the season for the Brazilian, and his second in as many matches. Ojeda had a hand in both goals.
Real Salt Lake had the game by every measure except the one that counts. They outshot New York City 15-6 overall and 6-3 on target. Matt Freese saved all six of those attempts for his fifth clean sheet of the campaign. Cabral, at the other end, was called into action once.
Pascal Jansen was back on the NYCFC touchline after missing Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to New England while attending to a personal matter in Europe.
Two clubs heading in opposite directions
New York City move to 8-9-8 and 32 points, with a road record of 4-4-4 that now looks respectable rather than damaging. Their clean sheet was a second in three matches.
Real Salt Lake sit on 8-11-5 and 29 points after an 11th league game without a victory, a run of seven defeats and four draws. A home record of 7-3-2 was the one thing holding their season together. Saturday put a dent in that too.
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