BRONX, N.Y. (March 11, 2018) – Captain David Villa helped New York City FC win their home opener on Sunday, a 2-1 defeat of the LA Galaxy.
New York City FC Win 2-1 Over Limping LA Galaxy as Anton Tinnerholm Opens MLS Account
The match began as a battle in the midfield. New York City had most of the ball, but couldn’t create anything dangerous as Jonathan dos Santos and Perry Kitchen protected a resolute Galaxy back line. Defensive mistakes would provide opportunities as the match opened up.
First in the 22nd minute, newcomer Anton Tinnerholm cleaned up a clearance after David Villa nearly scored in transition. Then in the 33rd minute, Villa scored his first of the year on a two-on-one off a Galaxy set piece. Again, the Galaxy were caught with number up field.
The Galaxy faced adversity in this game and Michael Ciani and Giovani dos Santos came off as injury substitutions. Sebastian Lletget also had to be visited by the trainer on several occasions.
Los Angeles pulled one back in the second half, as Jonathan dos Santos had a deft touch to score after Emma Boateng got around Ben Sweat to fire in a good cross. The home side took over the match in the final 20 minutes though and match was all but sealed in the 85th minute when Ashley Cole was sent off with a second yellow card for a tactical foul on Villa. NYCFC came away with a 2-1 win.
Things to Take Note of:
Walking Wounded: The Galaxy came into this match short-handed and it only got worse as the game went on. Team MVP Romain Alessandrini and Chris Pontius were ruled out earlier this week. That forced Sebastian Lletget into the Starting XI sooner than desired. Sigi Schmid had to make two injury subs before the second half in this one, taking off Michael Ciani and Giovani dos Santos. We’ll have to see what the injury report looks like next week.
Punishing Mistakes: Both City goals came off defensive break downs in this one. On the first goal, NYCFC were in transition and a great through pass to Villa led to the initial chance. Ciani made a great clearance all things considered. The Galaxy could have put out that fire by slowing down the play or marking Villa better. On the second goal, almost the entire field was caught up field off a set piece clearance. Patrick Viera said he wanted his team to punish mistakes in this game, and they did.
