Frank Lampard booed by own fans as New York City FC lose 7-0

Frank Lampard, NYCFC
Cheers to jeers: Frank Lampard's spell at New York City FC has turned into a nightmare. He is pictured in 2015

New York City FC - the glamour Major League Soccer team containing David Villa, Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard - suffered the ultimate humiliation on Saturday when they were beaten 7-0 at home by bitter rivals the New York Red Bulls.

It was the joint largest margin of defeat in MLS history for the club with the second biggest payroll in league records. 

And to add insult to injury Lampard was jeered by his own fans when he entered the game as a second-half substitute for his first appearance of the season.

Lampard has had a troubled relationship with New York City fans ever since he signed for the club and, what was meant to be a positive moment for him, after overcoming a long-standing injury, turned out to be anything but. 

The Red Bulls' victory also shows that their rivalry with New York City - which has mainly been marketing driven rather than from anything on the pitch - is as one-sided as it gets.

They have now won all four of their meetings with the club, who are joined owned by Manchester City and the New York Yankees, with a goal difference standing at 14-2 to the Red Bulls.

On Saturday Bradley Wright-Phillips and Dax McCarty each scored twice, with the other goals coming from Alex Muyl, Gonzalo Veron and Gideon Baah.

The rout was also highly embarrassing for head coach Patrick Vieira, who has been seen as a long-term successor to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, where he was academy coach.

Vieira said afterwards: "In every aspect of the game, we were second. We didn't turn up today.

"It's always good [better] to lose one game 7-0 than seven games 1-0.

"Before the game I knew we were not a perfect team and after the game I can tell you we aren't the worst team."

On Lampard, Vieira said: "I can guarantee that there is no one more than Frank who wants to be on the field to help."

Lampard himself said: "If I'm getting booed for being injured, there's not much I can do about that.

"Seven is bad, it's very bad and we can't hide away from that."

The match was also marred by scenes of violence prior to the game for the second year running, with fans hurling objects at each other. Two men were arrested.

On a bright note, New York City midfielder Jack Harrison - the former Manchester United academy player who was the No 1 pick in the MLS draft - showed a lot of promise on his debut.

It was the only positive moment for NYCFC in a sobering day for the club, the fans and their owners.

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