New York City FC had another day of firsts, and this time David Villa was the catalyst at the team’s home opener at Yankee Stadium.
The Spanish superstar scored his first goal for the club and, in the 84th minute, assisted on the goal that sealed the team’s first win, 2-0 over the New England Revolution in front of 43,507 fans.
Villa came sprinting down the left sideline ahead of his defender and sent a cross to Patrick Mullins, who buried it in the back of the net with his first touch of the game. Mullins had come on less than a minute earlier.
“I’ve been preaching maybe to deaf ears, but this will not be a finished product in Week 1,” head coach Jason Kreis said. “It’s just going to take time.”
Yesterday’s match was in contrast to Villa’s first effort against Orlando City SC a week earlier when he had no shots on goal.
This time, the high-profile signing seemed to be involved with everything. His score came on his second clear opportunity on goal. He finished with five shots on goal.
“I thought that last week it was very, very difficult for him as I knew it would be,” Kreis said. “This is an extremely physical league. The defenders don’t give you any time or space on the ball and there’s a lot physical confrontations because of that.”
Yankee Stadium was loud for the duration of the match, with a crowd that far exceeded the expected cap for attendance for the rest of the season.
“It was a nervous moment I think for me to not know what the fans would be like here, to meet them for the very first time,” Kreis said. “I couldn’t be more happy with the support we had and the atmosphere in the stadium.”
