Real Salt Lake Goals:
New York City FC Goals: Fernández Mercau 41', Luighi 62'
Quick Read
New York City FC secured an important 2-0 road victory against Real Salt Lake on Saturday night. Matt Freese made several important saves early on before Nico Fernández Mercau opened the scoring with a superb finish. Luighi doubled the advantage after the break, firing home from Agustín Ojeda’s cutback. Despite late pressure from RSL, the Boys in Blue defended resolutely to secure three points.
Match Recap
New York City FC were back on the road this weekend as they traveled to Utah for a meeting with Real Salt Lake.
Keen to respond to a disappointing midweek defeat to the New England Revolution, Pascal Jansen made five changes to his starting lineup.
Real Salt Lake threatened first, with Saba Lobjanidze seeing an effort blocked by Agustín Ojeda.
The Boys in Blue soon responded, though, as Nico Fernández Mercau narrowly missed the target in the 14th minute.
RSL came within inches of opening the scoring two minutes later, only to be denied by a sensational double save from Matt Freese.
The goalkeeper first got down low to palm Luca Moisa’s daisy-cutter away before reacting brilliantly to keep out Lobjanidze’s close-range follow-up.
Juan José Arias then headed over for the hosts, while Jonny Shore saw an effort blocked by Noel Caliskan at the other end.
Real Salt Lake continued to apply pressure, with Freese saving Morgan Guilavogui’s effort in the 20th minute before producing another strong stop to deny Lobjanidze. Moisa then tried his luck from distance, but Tayvon Gray got in the way of the shot.
The visitors looked dangerous on the break but were missing the final pass.
That changed in the 41st minute, when a clever free-kick routine created the opening for Fernández Mercau.
Ojeda’s short pass found the playmaker, who took one touch before curling a superb effort into the top corner from 25 yards. He nearly doubled the advantage before halftime, forcing Rafael Cabral into another save.
Neither side made changes during the interval, and Real Salt Lake began the second half on the front foot. Juan Manuel Sanabria tested Freese early on, but the goalkeeper was able to parry his effort away from danger.
That stop kept New York City FC in front, and the visitors soon added a second.
Gray sparked the move with a quick pass from back to front, finding Ojeda in space down the right. The winger drove toward goal before cutting the ball back for Luighi, who arrived at pace to fire a low finish past Cabral.
Luighi’s evening ended in the 72nd minute when he was replaced by Bénie Traoré.
Ojeda almost added a third shortly afterward. After sending his defender the wrong way with a cheeky nutmeg, he raced toward goal but saw his attempted cutback intercepted and turned behind for a corner.
Jansen then made a double change, bringing on Aiden O’Neill and Kevin O’Toole for Nico Cavallo and Shore.
Real Salt Lake continued searching for a way back into the contest and nearly found one from a corner. Aiden Hezarkhani rose highest and powered a header toward goal, but Freese made another important save before O’Toole completed the clearance.
New York City FC made one final change late on, with Alonso Martínez making a welcome return from a lengthy injury absence. Hannes Wolf made way for the Costa Rican forward.
RSL continued to threaten with several corners during stoppage time, but in the end New York City FC held on to claim an important 2-0 victory on the road.
Player of the Match
How We Lined Up
