Since the calendar changed over to May, Red Bull New York has been a mere mortal in Major League Soccer.
Real Salt Lake proved that once again Saturday night.
Nat Borchers and 17-year-old Luis Gil scored in the opening half and Real Salt Lake defeated New York, 3-0, at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“We had a very weak performance, I must say. I don’t think I’ve seen us that weak before in one-and-a-half years,” New York coach Hans Backe said.
“It’s sloppy, it’s very, very sloppy. We just need to change things if we’re going to reach the playoffs.”
New York (6-6-12) started the season with four wins and two draws in its first seven matches, but has just two wins since and is 2-5-10 in its last 17 games.
New York and its stars, Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez, remained level with Sporting in third in the East, and are just three points clear of sixth-place D.C. United. Only the top three are guaranteed playoff spots.
Real Salt Lake (10-5-6) rebounded from consecutive losses to the Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City with its 10th win of the season.
RSL got first-half goals from Nat Borchers and 17-year-old Luis Gil, and a penalty kick goal from Alvaro Saborio in the 77th minute.
New York goalkeeper Frank Rost left the match at halftime with a right quadriceps injury.
The Red Bulls’ next match is on Saturday, Aug. 13, when they face Eastern Conference rival, the Chicago Fire, at Red Bull Arena at 7:30 p.m. (TV: MSG).
— Sports Network contributed to this report