NEW YORK — There was no sugarcoating at all from New York City FC after getting shelled on Sunday by the New York Red Bulls. A 7-0 loss in a derby match is nothing short of embarrassing, but NYCFC knows lingering on it does nothing to help the team move forward.

“The biggest thing that we have to just think about is that it was just three points we lost and that’s it,” captain David Villa said. “We are still second in the table. I know this is a bad day but it’s soccer. You have a bad day, but it’s only one day. Four hours before, we were the best performers in MLS.”

NYCFC came into the derby as one of the hottest teams in the league after winning three of their previous four matches, including one at defending MLS Cup champion Portland Timbers. The second-year club even took a temporary lead of the Eastern Conference after earning a draw at Toronto FC on Wednesday before the Philadelphia Union jumped ahead in the standings with a win on Friday night.

All of that momentum, however, was quickly wiped away when the Red Bulls jumped ahead in the third minute on a header by Dax McCarty.

“It was a poor game. I think we didn’t start the game well at all, ” head coach Patrick Vieira said. “In every aspect of the game we were second. We didn’t turn up today. It’s never easy to concede seven goals in a derby match. But on the other side, I told the players that I am not throwing away what we have been doing from the beginning of the season. We, at times, play some good football. We won games, we lost games. I think today was just about the emotional side of the game that we didn’t control. I think we were a bit too anxious, too nervous, and really didn’t play.”

Vieira’s squad was playing its third match in six days after traveling more than 3,000 miles, and although he said that’s no excuse for his players’ poor showing on Saturday, he did admit that they perhaps weren’t best prepared to handle what the Red Bulls brought on Saturday.

“At this level, especially in a derby game, if you don’t match the desire and the competitiveness of the opposing team, you have what happened today,” he said. “Of course, it’s a step back, but like we say in football, it’s always good to lose one game 7-0 than seven games 1-0. We have to keep our head up.”

Villa, who has played in all four losses to the Red Bulls now, sympathizes the fanbase’s desire to get one over on its rival, but noted that the blowout on Saturday would’ve happened regardless of NYCFC’s opponent.

“For us, the most difficult thing is for the supporters, they want a victory against Red Bulls,” Villa said. “But with the way we played, any team in the world can have the same result against us.”

Apart from braces from McCarty and Bradley Wright-Phillips, NYCFC conceded goals to all three Red Bulls substitutes and generated just two shots on target while getting out-tackled 15-5. Frank Lampard, who made his season debut in the 75th minute, said the game was a “reality check” for the club.

“You can’t hide away from it,” Lampard said. “When you play against your rivals, the last thing you want to do is lose a game, let alone by seven goals. I think we have to accept this is a bad day, but these things can be forgotten and it’s up to us on the pitch. It’s up to us to make sure it’s forgotten.”

There are a lot of things he and the team need to work on, Lampard said, but assessing the damage from the loss on Saturday, the midfielder echoed Villa in finding the silver lining.

“The first thing is the league hasn’t changed that much,” Lampard said. “We lost a game, we lost three points, so we have to put that into perspective and look forward. That’s the plus. The seven goals is the negative. We need to address the things that led us to that. I think we are all very honest here and we’ve been a very good band.

“Now is a tough day, we may have to address that but at the same time get back to doing the things that were making us such a good team this week. People were talking us up (after the Portland game) now is the time to take it on the chin and show a bit of character and come back from a bad result.”

Vieira, who knows a little about bouncing back from a tough loss to a rival, is confident in his team’s ability to do just that.

“Before the game I knew that we were not a perfect team, and after the game, I can tell you we are not the worst team,” he said. “I know the team really well, I know the players really well, I know which aspects of the game we really need to improve. Like I said to the players after the game, I believe we still are a really good team, I am strongly behind the team and behind the players, and this is one of the games that we have to forget. I had the experience to be a player, losing 6-1 against (Manchester) United is never easy, but I think it will be a good test for us to see how strong we are and how strong our team spirit is, because we have to bounce back from the game.”