NYC FC got two goals from their captain David Villa, and they beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-2 at Yankee Stadium on Saturday to end their seven-game winless streak.
NYC FC notched their first win since opening day on March 6 and this was their first win in six tries at home.
This also was a strong response to giving up a late goal to Montreal Wednesday to walk out with a 1-1 draw.
“I was waiting for this win for quite some time and the players as well,” said NYC FC Head Coach Patrick Vieira. “You can see from the last 10 minutes it was so tense from the players and even us from the bench. You can see it working with the players everyday, the way they work week after week. They deserve to win the game and I’m really proud of the team because when you come out of the last three games from the past couple of weeks and to manage to play the way they played physically I think it was a fantastic spirit and I am really really happy for them.”
It looked like it might be another tough day when the Whitecaps scored in the first minute of play. Goalkeeper Josh Saunders was dispossessed by Nicolas Mezquida who found Octavio Rivero for the goal.
The goal might have been a blessing in disguise. “I think that goal really brought us back to the game because I didn’t really like the tempo at the beginning,” Vieira said. “Seeing that goal was a wake up for us. And I think we show really good spirit considering that goal was. We stick together and stick to the way we want to play the game. And for me that was a fantastic message.”
Villa tied the game in the 35th minute, assisted by Khiry Shelton. Six minutes later, Villa gave NYC FC the lead with an acrobatic goal off a Andrea Pirlo corner kick.
“What can I say about David that you don’t know already? He is a terrific and fantastic player and you know if you look at the last two games that he played and the energy is fantastic,” Vieira said. “I believe in football and in sport there are two different types of leader. The one that is really vocal and the one that expressing talent and hard work. I think that David isn’t very vocal but he works really hard and send the message to the players and when David is like that, that is really good for us.”
Villa now has six goals on the season, and this was the third time he has had a brace, or two goals in a game, this season.
Vancouver tied the game on a penalty kick goal by Christian Bolanos in the 63rd minute.
NYC FC went ahead in the 73rd minute on a Steven Mendoza goal, assisted by Thomas McNamara. It was a good time for Mendoza’s first MLS goal.
NYC FC can go into a three-game road trip on a high note.
“It’s really important for a lot of things,” Villa said. “The first of which is that we were able to get the three points. It was the first home victory here and we were able to give that present to our fans. Right now we are getting ready for three games on the road and it’s big to be able to do that right before.”