David Villa celebrates after scoring his second goal against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, June 17, 2017. (Photo Credit: NYCFC)

NEW YORK — Many have said that the beautiful game is meant to be played in the rain.

They’ve never played soccer in a baseball stadium.

It began falling an hour before kick-off at Yankee Stadium, maintained itself through warm-ups and the first half as New York City FC welcomed defending Major League Soccer Cup champion Seattle Sounders to the Bronx. After it seemed to subside during the halftime interval, it came back with a vengeance to start the second half, falling heavier than it had all afternoon until finally coming to a steady drizzle for the final half-hour.

The pitch at the Stadium is notorious for being difficult to play on even in the most perfect weather, so it only became more difficult to adjust to as the rain gradually picked up through the opening 45 minutes and was nearly unplayable for much of the second half.

But despite the ugly weather, the Boys in Blue were able to put together one of the most beautiful goals you’ll see in MLS play.

With the match tied at a goal apiece, NYCFC was pushing to take its first lead of the day, committing more numbers in attack to break through and get a late winner.

A promising play was unfolding quickly as Jack Harrison received the ball on the right side of the 18, but it seemed to be gone just as fast, the ball slipping away from his feet. Harrison would protect possession, running around with the ball away from his defender until he found some space, picked his head up and threw up what looked like a prayer.

But the cross would very much be calculated, the ball slowly falling to the feet of an unmarked David Villa at the far post.

The Spanish striker converts chances like those 99 out of 100 times, and already having a historic day in his own right, he wasn’t going to miss this one. He slotted it past Stefan Frei, completing a contender for MLS Goal of the Season and giving his team their first lead of the day.

.@Harrison_Jack11 ⤴️ @Guaje7Villa #NYCFC 2-1 @SoundersFC pic.twitter.com/uouyfGXrK3

— New York City FC (@NYCFC) June 17, 2017

Like the rain, NYCFC would hold until full-time, coming back from a goal down at the half to defeat the Sounders 2-1.

“I’m really happy with (Jack) like (I am) with the rest of the players,” said NYCFC head coach Patrick Vieira. “You look at the weather, you look at the field, we’re playing against one of the best teams in the league and we go one-nil down — to come back and win that game, it takes a lot of team spirit, quality. We managed to turn it around.”

The brace was historic — the first goal would be Villa’s 50th in MLS play in 77 matches, making him the fifth fastest player in league history to reach the milestone — as was the win. For the first time since March 2015, the first month of the club’s first season, NYCFC has more wins than losses.

The goals were among the moments throughout the match that, in spite of the rain, the home side played some of its best soccer of the season. Most of it came in the opening 15 minutes, when the Boys in Blue kept possession and controlled play, moving the ball well in spite of the rain with clever one-touch passing in midfield and smart 1-2 connections in the final third. They were unable to capitalize in the moment, their visitors creating equal danger with a tenth of the possession, both sides forcing the opposing goalkeeper to make a simple save.

As more time passed and the rain fell faster and harder, play would slow down as the match became a slug fest.

Each side would earn free-kick opportunities in dangerous positions, but all were wasted, not once creating any real danger on goal. The conditions of the pitch caused slide tackles to go longer than intended, player momentum more difficult to stop and at various points, the ball to simply stop moving.

It gave the referee an excuse for not giving NYCFC a penalty when Harrison was taken down in the box midway through the opening frame, a clear foul upon watching the replay that appeared as a slip in real time.

Referee said no penalty, what do you think? #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/U9olZRsImc

— New York City FC (@NYCFC) June 17, 2017

It would play a part in Gustav Svensson and Cristian Roldan each picking up a yellow card in the space of three minutes, both for challenges on Yangel Herrera in midfield, both ending up more ferocious than intended. Wallace would follow up five minutes later to pick up NYCFC’s first yellow card after a similar challenge.

Most importantly, it was crucial to the craziness of the five minutes prior to halftime.

It allowed Roldan to take advantage of space he found behind the NYCFC backline, pushing the ball forward in a one-on-one situation with Maxime Chanot.

The Frenchman, starting the match despite picking up an injury on international duty for Luxembourg against the Netherlands, was hesitant to make a tackle, the rain in the back of his mind, allowing Roldan to run right past him and slot in a shot across Sean Johnson to the far post to open the scoring in the 40th minute.

“I watched the goal at halftime because I was a little bit surprised to be honest,” Chanot said. “I didn’t think he was so close to the goal and if I take a little step, I was scared he would give it back to (Clint) Dempsey behind me. Finally, he shot, it was a goal. I was really, really disappointed because I know if I (made the) tackle, I was sure I’d take the ball. But like I said, I was scared he’d give it to Dempsey and Dempsey would be in front of the goal.”

Making a play.@CristianRoldan puts the visitors up 1-0. #NYCvSEA https://t.co/Hsn8wwqhKs

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 17, 2017

Minutes later, the Sounders had a prime chance to double their lead, one they’d likely capitalize on in normal conditions. But when Jordan Morris sent Harry Shipp through on goal, his pass got stuck in a puddle, leaving the midfielder sliding as he looked back at what could’ve been.

And on the final play of the first half, Villa would be as unlucky, his curler smacking on the top left corner of the upright, flying away from goal as the referee blew for halftime.

Having come so close to end the first half, Villa was able to make amends to start the second. The Spaniard picked up a penalty within five minutes on perhaps the weakest penalty shout of the day — replay showed the ball was taken cleanly from him.

Regardless, the striker didn’t flinch, putting it past Frei to score his 50th career goal for NYCFC.

51' — David Villa scores his 50th goal for #NYCFC to equalize.

40 minutes to go in Yankee Stadium and #NYCvSEA knotted at 1. pic.twitter.com/GgRaiLmcNc

— Brian Fonseca (@briannnnf) June 17, 2017

“I’m happy because the two goals give three points to the team,” Villa said. “I always said (the numbers) are good, the 50th goal, 51, but my objective is not to score 50 goals. It’s to score the 52nd. I’m thankful to score because the team needs my goals, not (because) I arrived at 50 or 51. Doesn’t matter the numbers, I try to score for the team to win the games.”

The home side would push for its first lead of the day but would fail to take advantage of numerous chances — first through Chanot, who missed a golden chance off a corner with plenty of time and space but couldn’t put his header on frame. Then it was Wallace hitting a shot teed up for him over the bar, followed quickly by Harrison finding space to fire at the top of the box but hitting it just wide.

The Englishman would make up for that miss in due time, his patience on the ball and vision across the pitch allowing his most talented teammate to do what he does best — put the ball in the back of the net to save the day and hand his team three points.

“Now I rest and I can think about scoring my 52nd (goal) for the club,” Villa said. “That’s the best thing I can do.”

With the match complete and the players finished with their post-match interview duties, the sun had peaked out from the cover of the clouds, covering the pitch at Yankee Stadium. For as ugly as the match had been, the final result was as pretty in the eyes of the Blues as any other win.

“I’m quite really proud, especially because of the way we played in the first half. We showed a lot of character, our game plan was good and it was not easy to play under those circumstances,” Vieira said. “I think we played really well, and yes, I really enjoyed watching the team play today.”

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Scoring Summary:

Seattle 1-0 — Cristian Roldan (41’)

NYCFC 1-1 — David Villa (PK) (52’)

NYCFC 2-1 — David Villa (77’)

Starting XI:

NYCFC: Sean Johnson, Ben Sweat (Ethan White, 66’), Alexander Callens, Maxime Chanot, RJ Allen, Alexander Ring, Yangel Herrera, Tommy McNamara (Sean Okoli, 76’), Rodney Wallace, Jack Harrison, David Villa (Frederic Brillant, 90’).

Seattle: Stefan Frei, Joevin Jones (Nouhou Tolo, 81’), Gustav Svensson, Chad Marshall, Oniel Fischer (Henry Wingo, 82’), Osvaldo Alonso, Cristian Rondon, Nicolas Lodeiro, Harry Shipp (Will Bruin, 67’), Clint Dempsey, Jordan Morris.

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Follow Brian Fonseca on Twitter @briannnnf for updates. Email him at brianfilipefonseca@gmail.com with questions, concerns, tips or story ideas.