|
 New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio presented a plaque proclaiming
March 15th NYCFC Day and Villa proved it to the delight of 43,000
fans in the chill of the Bronx in a 2-0 victory over the New England
Revolution.
Villa cut inside from the left touchline, played a quick one-two
with Ned Grabavoy, burst into the penalty area and confidently
slotted the ball past New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth to
put NYCFC in the lead in the 19th minute.
The Spanish striker blew kisses to a roaring crowd wearing the sky
blue club colors and was mobbed by his team mates after the first
home goal by the new MLS team.
Villa helped ice the win with a cross to Patrick Mullins, who scored
in the 84th minute.
A flurry of other chances failed in windy, chilly conditions in a
70-by-110 yard field squeezed into the confines of the baseball
shrine.
New England's Kelyn Rowe missed three good chances in the first
half, and Juan Agudelo's header from point blank range was stopped
in the 42nd minute for the Revolution, last year's MLS title
runners-up.
The pitch, which covered most of the diamond with newly laid sod,
did not produce bad footing as feared after being uncovered
following a frigid, snow-covered winter.
Damage to the permanent turf -- a worry expressed by some Yankees
from their balmy Florida spring training headquarters -- did not
appear to be warranted.
But that concern will be played out over 17 scheduled games for
NYCFC, who will share the stadium for the next few seasons while
planning their own facility.
[to top of second column] |
The sharing of Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009 across the
street from the original 'House that Ruth built', was arranged by
NYCFC's parent club Manchester City of the English Premier League
and the Yankees, who are minority partners in NYCFC.
The old Yankee Stadium had a long tradition of hosting soccer
matches, bringing in some of the world's most famous teams. Soccer
legend Pele called the stadium home with the NASL's New York Cosmos
in 1976.
In Sunday's other game, late substitute Alan Gordon scored a goal in
stoppage time to dash the hopes of the home fans at Providence Park
in Portland and earn the defending champion LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw
with the Timbers.
The Timbers appeared to have the game won after going 2-1 up when
striker Fanendo Adi scored his second goal of the afternoon in the
90th minute, but Gordon spoiled their celebrations two minutes later
with his equalizer off a corner kick.
(Editing by Gene Cherry/Peter Rutherford)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
