David Villa backtracks to welcome Jack Harrison in celebration after assisting him in the opening goal of NYCFC’s 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night. (Photo Credit: NYCFC)
NEW YORK — The night seemed set up to be perfect for New York City FC, every last measure falling in place before kick-off at Yankee Stadium, creating the chance for a historic night for the young club.
There was already a guarantee of a first milestone being reached — second-year head coach Patrick Vieira was managing his 50th Major League Soccer match for the Boys in Blue on a night that seemed destined to be his 22nd win given the way the league has gone for him thus far.
NYCFC had yet to lose two straight matches heading into Wednesday night’s matchup with the New England Revolution, winning every match following its first three losses of 2017.
Coming off a 3-1 loss away to Atlanta United at the weekend and hosting a club yet to win a match away from home this season, all signs pointed to that trend continuing.
A few other historic moments seemed destined to occur as well.
David Villa, the greatest Boy to ever don the New York Blue, entered Wednesday night a goal shy of matching his manager’s matches on the touchline in scoring, one celebratory sprint away down the endline from the half-century mark of goals for NYCFC in just two-and-a-half seasons.
Just as his team bounces back from losses on a collective level, so too does the striker on an individual case, having scored or assisted at least one goal in games after he was held without any this season. Villa was completely shut out in that loss to Atlanta, having no involvement in Jack Harrison’s lone goal in Georgia.
And so when he took the pitch of his home stadium where he scored his first goal in MLS against the same opponent he scored it on, it only seemed fitting that Villa would be the one to tie everything together into a tidy bow.
But it wouldn’t be so, the match serving as a half-measure both for him individually and his club as a collective. Villa would continue his streak of quickly breaking dry spells with an official assist and another of the hockey variety, and he’d even get his second yellow card on the year, but he wouldn’t get the goal.
As for his club, it would remain without a losing streak on the season, but this time it was due to a draw rather than a victory.
Villa’s assist to Harrison opened the scoring in the 16th minute, eight minutes before Lee Nguyen and Kei Kamara connected for an equalizer.
Miguel Camargo would put the hosts back on the path to victory in the 64th minute, another goal arriving from a move started by Villa, but an even more brilliant assist from Kelyn Rowe to Xavier Kouassi would tie the match up once again in the dying seconds.
There, in the 86th minute, the final result was settled, a point for each side, each with a different taste — disappointment for the hosts, satisfaction for the visitors.
Vieira once again called out his players for a lack of concentration and focus in their defensive third, issues which plagued the team plenty all of last season and he wasn’t alone in his belief.
“I agree (with Patrick),” said goalkeeper Sean Johnson. “I think in the moment, we switch off. We don’t do what’s necessary and we end up conceding a late goal so we’ve gotta stay tuned in for 90 plus minutes. It’s a game that takes seconds to change and that was the case, obviously. We were a team that held a decent amount of possession, we controlled the game for the most part but in the last 10 minutes, you could see they were getting a little bit of life.”
While Villa was unable to do what he’s known for — putting in the back of the net — he did show an underrated trait he brought to the club when he signed on as its first player back in 2014 — his high level of intelligence on the pitch he learned in a career which includes stops at Barcelona at the height of their late-2000’s dynasty, at Atletico Madrid as it climbed up to the level it is at now and with a Spanish national side which conquered Europe in 2008 and the world in 2010.
With the match still in its initial lull as both teams felt each other out, the skilled striker ripped a slicing run through midfield, leaving three defenders in his dust as he raced into the penalty area. With Knighton, the goalkeeper replacing regular starter Cody Cropper in goal, as the only obstacle in the way of him making history, Villa chose to cut it back to an open Harrison rather than go for goal.
The result was the home side taking an early 1-0 lead at the 16th minute via Harrison’s second goal in as many games.
.@Guaje7Villa cannot be stopped. He creates on the fly and then finds @Harrison_Jack11 on a DIME for the early goal. #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/hnwyUFAabV
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) May 31, 2017
“We’re talking about one of the best players in this league, a player who had a fantastic career in Europe,” Vieira said post-match. “This is about making the right decision at the right time. In the position he was, the angle was a little closed and there was a player in a better position. He made the right call at the right time. That shows the quality of the player.”
The goal evoked a reaction from the visitors, who were the better of the two sides in the opening 15 minutes but seemed to kick it up a notch after conceding.
After staving off a pair of attempts from Villa to score his landmark goal in the 18th and 19th minutes, the Revolution came knocking on the door of its visitors in the 23rd. A cutting ball from midfield found Kamara in space at the top of the NYCFC box, only for the striker to be met by an onrushing Sean Johnson, who made the save for a New England corner.
Kamara would get his revenge on his subsequent touch, connecting with a cross from Nguyen off the corner at the near post and heading it past Johnson towards the far post to knot the match back up at one. Eight minutes after NYCFC’s best players in attack connected to open the scoring, the visitor’s dynamic duo had reversed it.
.@KeiKamara with the header! pic.twitter.com/kcNLwBe1HX
— NewEnglandRevolution (@NERevolution) June 1, 2017
The home side would put its foot back on the gas after conceding, winger Rodney Wallace twice coming close to retaking the lead for NYCFC. Both attempts came from the left half of the New England penalty area, but the first went well wide of the far post and the second was collected by Knighton after a short spillage that no Blue attacked.
Harrison took a crack at doubling both his and NYCFC’s goal total in the 33rd minute, cutting inside and whipping a curler at goal, but it would go right in the hands of Knighton.
Halftime would soon come — four second earlier than expected, by the way — and go, yet it was still the home side that was on top of the match upon returning, the Boys in Blue controlling a majority of the possession to start the second half.
New England put more of its men behind the ball, satisfied with absorbing the blows of its hosts and striking when it could on the counter attack. The strategy worked for a while, Villa and Harrison struggling to find any space, but it would eventually crack.
Miguel Camargo, who replaced birthday boy Tommy McNamara at the hour mark, was able to break the deadlock two minutes after coming on.
The Panamanian midfielder was found open at the far post by Maxi Moralez, who whipped in a cross for his team-leading sixth assist on the year after being found on the left wing by none other than Villa, who had space to cross himself but chose the better option.
Miguel Camargo puts #NYCFC back in front! pic.twitter.com/ApjwxsLDZ2
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) June 1, 2017
Camargo’s first career goal with the Boys in Blue allowed Vieira to go conservative, substituting Harrison for defender Frederic Brilliant in the 69th minute.
The roles were reversed as NYCFC put five at the back to preserve the lead and the Revolution brought more men than they had all match to chase the result.
It seemed the visitors would come up short of matching their hosts luck, each ball into the box cleared free as the time ticked away towards the 90th minute. It would take a stroke of magic to steal a point from New York and bring it back to Foxborough — and that’s exactly what the Revs got from their substitute.
For as good as Vieira’s changes were, so were those of Jay Heaps. It was Xavier Kouassi, who came on in the 67th minute, that leveled the match, helped by a wonderful assist from Kelyn Rowe. After collecting a headed clearance from Ben Sweat at the outer corner of the 18-yard box with his chest, Rowe bounced it up one more time with his shin before whipping in a perfect cross to Kouassi, who headed it underneath Johnson and into the back of the net.
What. A. GOAL! Kelyn ➡️ Kouassi pic.twitter.com/mX31Lm9D6h
— NewEnglandRevolution (@NERevolution) June 1, 2017
One more time the roles reversed, NYCFC once again chasing the win as New England was put on the back foot, but the four minutes remaining following the goal wouldn’t be enough.
“Obviously, it was a very frustrating game and (Vieira) was disappointed with the result. We wanted to the win and get in a situation where we could’ve won is even more disappointing,” Harrison said. “At the same time, we have to get our heads back up and we have another game on Saturday and we have to be focused on that now.”
In the end, while the result was slightly different than usual, everything seemed to remain the same — the Boys in Blue remained perfect after slip-ups in league play as it has all season, Vieira’s side struggled to hold onto a late lead at home as it did last season and David Villa continued as the king of his club, NYCFC’s best player even, historic night or not, as he has every single season.
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Scoring Summary:
1-0 (NYCFC) — Jack Harrison (assist – David Villa) – 16’
1-1 (New England) — Kei Kamara (assist – Lee Nguyen) – 24’
2-1 (NYCFC) — Miguel Camargo (assist – Maximilliano Moralez) – 64’
2-2 (New England) — Xavier Kouassi (assist – Kelyn Rowe) – 86′
Starters/Subs:
NYCFC XI: Johnson, Sweat, Callens, Chanot, White, McNamara, Lopez, Moralez, Wallace, Villa, Harrison
NYCFC Subs: Johansen, Okoli, Stertzer, Brillant, Awuah, Lewis, Camargo
New England XI: Brad Knigton, Andrew Farrell, Benjamin Angoua, Antonio Delamea, Daigo Kobayashi, Scott Caldwell, Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez, Gershon Koffie, Lee Nguyen, Kei Kamara
New England Subs: Cody Cropper, Chris Tierney, Je-Vaughn Watson, London Woodberry, Xavier Kouassi, Juan Agudelo, Femi Hollinger-Janzen
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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.
