Daniel Royer celebrates his first half penalty kick. (Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports)
HARRISON, N.J. — Daniel Royer started it and he finished it as well.
The Red Bulls midfielder continued his torrid as did his Red Bulls teammates, scoring the first and final goals, as New York rolled over the Montreal Impact, 4-0, at Red Bull Arena Saturday night.
The Red Bulls have been outstanding on both sides of the ball, outscoring their foes, 12-1, in their last three games.
In fact, the Red Bulls have scored three or more goals in four consecutive games, the first time in team history.
And the Red Bulls have won five consecutive matches, tying for the second longest winning streak in the club’s 22-year history.
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“The group is in a good way,” head coach Jesse Marsch said. “There was clarity on the field, a lot of competence. We’re all aware of the momentum that we have, the belief we have.
“I even think that this thing can get better, we can get sharper, clearer, cleaner. So that’s our drive right now.”
When asked about his recent form, Royer declined.
“Actually, I don’t want to talk too much about that,” he said. “I want to talk about this team effort because the whole team [has been] doing great the past few weeks. We’re dangerous and aggressive in the attack. We are compact defensively and its just been fun to play. It’s a team effort and I think we are doing really good in the past weeks.”
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Royer, who has tallied in four consecutive matches, opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the 23rd minute.
Panamanian international Michael Amir Murillo tapped in his first career MLS goal inside the six-yard box to double the lead in the 58th minute.
In the 85th minute, captain Sacha Kljestan began the third goal, sending a pass to the far corner of the 18-yard box for Alex Muyl. Muyl sent a cross in front of the six-yard box for Bradley Wright-Phillips, who redirected it over goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau for a 3-0 advantage.
It was BWP’s 80th regular-season goal, moving him into a tie for 16th place in MLS history with Brian McBride and Josh Wolff.
“I was tired,” Wright-Phillips said. “I felt I may be coming off soon so I was like, you know, I’m going to give this one more try. I felt like I was in some good positions today and it just never fell to me. The last effort I just tried to get…I’d been moaning at those guys all game to cross the ball or try and look for me. Alex Muyl just done that and I just tried to get my boot on it.”
As time was winding down in the 89th minute, Derrick Etienne Jr. sent a through ball into the box for Royer. Royer caught up, sent his shot to the near post and beat Crepeau for the final goal.
“We found some great spots,” Royer said. “We had a lot of space, we played really well and created a lot of chances and I think there wasn’t a doubt that we would win this game.”
Next on tap for the Red Bulls is New York City FC in the Hudson River Derby at Yankee Stadium next Sunday.
“We know as a group that we’ve got potentially a huge week coming up, so we can’t pat ourselves on the back too much,” Marsch said. “We have to now make sure that we find ways to get better, keep the hunger, keep the drive so that we keep pushing our season along in all the right ways.”
