NEW YORK – What the crowd of 43,507 at Yankee Stadium witnessed on Sunday from David Villa is what New York City FC coach Jason Kreis saw in the days leading up to the expansion club’s home opener.
“I actually had a notion this was going to be a good week for him because I think he’s been fantastic in the training sessions this week,” Kreis said. “We don’t get around people like him very often that can finish with the percentage that he finishes chances with.”
Villa was more than good, scoring a spectacular goal in the first half and playing a sublime ball to second-half substitute Patrick Mullins to help lead NYCFC to a 2-0 win over the New England Revolution.
It seemed only fitting that NYCFC’s first signing placed his stamp on the club’s first-ever victory.
“I know he’s an incredibly talented player, an incredibly smart player and he’s not shy of working hard,” Kreis said. “For me, he’s the exact type of player who will be incredibly successful in this league, but it will take some time.”
Kreis saw a sharper Villa in training, but veteran midfielder Ned Grabavoy said he’s seen that throughout his short tenure as teammates.
“I don’t know if I’ve gone through a week of training and not seen David sharp. … He always looks pretty sharp to me,” Grabavoy said. “I’m glad we could find him in some better spots.”
Grabavoy played a pivotal role in Villa’s first Major League Soccer goal. He played the ball to an open Villa on the left and the Designated Player collected, cutting between a pair of defenders before playing a quick give-and-go with Grabavoy.
Villa did the rest, taking two more touches into the box before clinically finishing inside the far post.
“I’m very pleased with the performance today. Obviously we’re still growing as a new team, but we are delighted,” Villa said. “We scored two goals, we could have scored some more goals in the second half. I want to take this opportunity to thank the fans publically, on a cold day like this to give us the support they gave us.”
After New England was reduced to 10 men when defender Jose Goncalves tripped second half sub Khiry Shelton from behind in the 66thminute, Villa turned provider.
- Opta Chalkboard: Villa turns in dazzling performance for NYCFC
In the 84th minute, he again received the ball in space, took a quick touch from his left to his right foot to create an inch of space from Revs midfielder Scott Caldwell before serving a perfect ball to the back post that Mullins slid in to finish.
“What a spectacular play by David to set that goal up,” Kreis said. “Certainly a very committed and hard run by Patrick to get to the position that he needed to, but I think most of the credit for that goal goes to David.”
While both goals were of the highlight variety, Mullins has been even more impressed with Villa’s competitive nature.
“The biggest thing I’ve taken from him is he’s a winner,” Mullins said. “He just wants to win everything, from a training match to the first game out here. That hunger is really something I’ve been admiring since he started.”
