To paraphase Gary Lineker, soccer is a simple game—22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the New York Cosmos always win at home. After an even, end-to-end first half with the Carolina RailHawks Saturday evening, the Cosmos scored six unanswered goals to steamroll the RailHawks, 6-1. Carolina’s road record drops to 3-1-7, while the Cosmos remain undefeated in 11 home games at Shuart Stadium.

The RailHawks opened the match with in-form forward Omar Bravo plus spark-plug Tiyi Shipalane on the bench. However, they welcomed back James Marcelin, who missed the last five games recovering from knee surgery. Meanwhile, the two hottest Cosmos during the NASL fall season were not in New York’s starting XI: midfielder Adam Moffat was unavailable, while striker Lucky Mkosana began on the aluminum.

It was actually the visitors who opened on their front foot. Nazmi Albadawi dispossessed Andres Flores in Carolina’s attacking third, then delivered a perfectly weighted ball ahead to an onside Matt Fondy. The California native took a touch, then slotted his shot past Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer to take the initial lead. It’s Fondy’s sixth goal since joining the RailHawks, and Albadawi’s NASL-leading eighth assist.

But the Cosmos equalized just two minutes later. A cross by Ruben Bover pinged around the box before Flores gained control and dropped it to Juan Arango stationed 17 yards out. The Cosmos’ leading scorer took a left-footer that cleared goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald’s reach to knot the score at 1-1.

The rest of the back-and-forth first half saw an apparent score by each club disallowed for offside. A couple of squandered RailHawks chances in the 42nd minute kept the scoreline even at intermission. A gorgeous shot by Albadawi was swatted away by a leaping Maurer. Moments later, Albadawi drove toward the byline, but his blast across the face of goal deflected off Fondy and out of danger.

An injured Paul Black subbed off at halftime, requiring Drew Beckie to drop to an unnatural left back position. Whether that misfortune was the catalyst the Cosmos needed for an inevitable victory is both unknowable and ultimately irrelevant.

Regardless, the best laid plans of mice and RailHawks went awry beginning in the 58th minute. A Sebastian Guenzatti shot was saved by Fitzgerald, but the deflection fell to Arango, who flicked the ball over a prone Fitzgerald to go up 2-1. Arango’s brace gives him nine goals for the year, third-most in the NASL.

New York struck again in the 61st minute, when Matt Watson was dispossessed by Jairo Arrieta in the RailHawks’ backfield. Arrieta turned Connor Tobin, then spied Fitzgerald just off his line and air-mailed a chip shot from 25 yards that cleared the helpless keeper, then ricocheted off the underside of the crossbar and landed across the goal line for the 3-1 advantage.

The onslaught continued in the 79th minute, when Ruben Bover centered to Flores, whose one-touch shot deflected off RailHawks defender James Marcelin and into the far netting for a 4-1 gulf. In the 82nd minute, David Diosa played a calm ball off the right wing to Arrieta, who chopped a fake shot, then maneuvered around Tobin to convert a left-footer for his own brace and a 5-1 margin.

What more? Well, so did the Cosmos, which in added time saw Flores center to Guenzatti, who got in on the action to account for the … whew … 6-1 final tally.

Six goals are the most the RailHawks have allowed in a match since a 6-1 drubbing at FC Edmonton in June 2014. Five goals are the most Carolina has allowed in a half since the six goals surrendered in the second-half of an 8-0 loss to the San Antonio Scorpions in July 2012. Overall, the RailHawks’ 2016 league-worst goals allowed tally climbs to 37 goals, eight more than the second-worst Jacksonville Armada.

The RailHawks (7-5-8, 26 pts.) play two straight matches, and four of their next six, at WakeMed Soccer Park. Next Saturday, Sept. 3, the aforementioned Armada come to Cary, so expect some scoring.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

CAR: Fitzgerald, Beckie, Tobin, Black (Shipalane, 46’), Miller, Da Luz, Albadawi, Watson, Marcelin, Shriver (Bravo, 69’), Fondy

NYC: Maurer, Freeman, Ayoze, Mulligan, Mendes (Roversio, 81’), Bover (Diosa, 81’), Guenzatti, Flores, Szetela, Arango, Arrieta (Mkosana, 86’)

GOALS

CAR: Fondy, 6’ (Albadawi)

NYC: Arango, 8’ (Flores); Arango, 58’; Arrieta, 61’; Flores, 79’ (Arrieta); Arrieta, 82’ (Diosa); Guenzatti, 90 + 3’ (Flores)

CAUTIONS

CAR: Tobin, 17’; Shipalane, 67’; Beckie, 84’

NYC: Ayoze, 13’; Guenzatti, 67’; Diosa, 85’

EJECTIONS

CAR: ---

NYC: ---

ATTENDANCE: 3,221