(Reuters) - New York Red Bulls routed New York City FC 7-0 on Saturday to sour Frank Lampard's first match of the season and register their fourth successive derby victory since their rivals entered Major League Soccer last year.
The thumping victory, tying it with the biggest margin for an away win in MLS, pushed the Red Bulls (5-7-1) to within a point of second-place New York City (4-4-5) in the Eastern conference.
The loss overshadowed the season-debut of former Chelsea midfielder Lampard, who entered the game as a substitute in the 75th minute after he missed his team's first 12 games with a calf injury.
Dax McCarty scored in the third minute and Bradley Wright-Phillips scored twice before the end of the first half. The onslaught continued in the second half with goals from McCarty, Alex Muyl, Gonzalo Veron and Gideon Baah.
"(Red Bulls) fans will be able to tell their kids that they were at this game," coach Jesse Marsch said.
The Western Conference-leading Colorado Rapids (8-2-3) extended their undefeated run to eight games with a 1-0 road win on a goal from Axel Sjoberg late in the first half against the Seattle Sounders (4-6-1).
FC Dallas (8-4-2) received two goals from Tesho Akindele to notched up their 4-2 road win against the New England Revolution (2-4-7).
A goal from Arturo Alvarez was enough for the Chicago Fire (2-5-4) to score a 1-0 victory against the visiting Houston Dynamo (3-7-2), while Toronto FC (4-4-4) and the visiting Columbus Crew (2-4-5) played out a goalless draw.
After Ignacio Piatti gave the Montreal Impact (4-4-4) an early lead, Orlando City’s Kaka and Cyle Larin combined for goals late in the first half and again in the 87th minute to give Orlando (3-3-5) a 2-1 win at home.
Real Salt Lake (6-3-2) received first-half goals from Juan Manuel Martinez and Brad Davis in a 3-1 road win against Sporting Kansas City (5-7-2).