BRONX | David Villa converted the first penalty kick in New York City FC history as the Club played to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo in front of 26,211 on a beautiful Saturday evening at Yankee Stadium.
Dynamo defender Raul Rodriguez was called for a handball in the box in the 45th minute and the New York City FC captain stepped to the penalty spot. Villa, who was named the Heineken Star of the Match, found the bottom right corner of the net in the waning moments of the first half to tie the score at 1-all.
It was the third goal in Major League Soccer for Spain’s all-time scorer.
New York City FC improve to 1-7-5 (8 points) while Houston are now 4-5-5 (17 points).
“We were very close," Villa said. "I think we had good chances, and I think we dominated throughout the game. We just to have to keep going, and work harder, and look forward to the next game vs. Philadelphia.”
The Dynamo took an early lead on a right-footed blast by forward Will Bruin. Alexander Lopez’s corner kick was headed down into a dangerous area by David Horst as Bruin one-timed his volley into the back of the net from 6 yards out in the 16th minute.
“It’s definitely something that we need to stop doing," midfielder Mix Diskerud said. "We can’t let the other team score the first goal every single time and to let that happen in the first 30 minutes, that’s not good enough.”
New York City FC had a chance to respond in the 27th. Josh Saunders’ goal kick was headed on by both Adam Nemec, who was back in the lineup for the first time since picking up an injury on April 24 at Chicago, and then by Villa. Sebastian Velasquez ran onto the ball, made a move on a defender but his left-footed shot went into the hands of Houston goalie Tyler Deric.
Rodriguez almost doubled the visitors' advantage two minutes later. The defender’s ball from the right flank went off the top of the crossbar. Houston again had a chance as DaMarcus Beasley’s attempt was blasted into the side netting in the 33rd minute.
New York City kept pressing and got their break right before the interval. Defender Jeb Brovsky served up a dangerous ball into the box. Nemec and Rodriguez both jumped up for it and the latter was called for the infraction.
The score was 1-1 at halftime.
In the 55th minute, Giles Barnes made a nifty move to get to the touchline and sprinted toward the net, but Saunders came out to slide tackle the ball away.
New York City FC almost took an advantage 20 minutes later as Nemec’s left-footed lob went across the box and hit the top of the crossbar.
The Club had three chance to steal the spoils in the match’s waning minutes. First, second-half substitution Kwadwo Poku made a great run to the end line, cut back inside and served up the ball into the box. Brovsky met it with his head, but Deric made a great save, pushing the ball onto the post. Patrick Mullins then had an attempt in stoppage time, but his shot went just wide. Finally, Mix served up an enticing ball to the back post that was met by Brovsky, but his attempt went across the face of the goal.
New York City FC return to action against the Philadelphia Union on June 6. Kickoff is 7 p.m. EDT from PPL Park in Chester, Pa. The match will be broadcast on YES Network and 970 AM.
New York City FC 1, Houston Dynamo 1
Saturday May 30, 2015: 7:00 p.m. EDT
MLS Regular Season
Yankee Stadium
Scoring Summary:
16’ Will Bruin HOU
45’+1’ David Villa (PK) NYC
Misconduct Summary:
32’ Chris Wingert NYC (Yellow Card - Foul)
35’ Ricardo Clark HOU (Yellow Card - Foul)
54’ Luis Garrido HOU (Yellow Card – Off the ball foul)
79’ Jason Hernandez NYC (Yellow Card - Foul)
90’+4’ Raul Rodriguez HOU (Yellow Card – Time wasting)
Line-ups:
New York City FC: Josh Saunders, Jeb Brovsky, Jason Hernandez, Shay Facey, Chris Wingert, Andrew Jacobson, Mix Diskerud, Mehdi Ballouchy (Kwadwo Poku 68’), Sebastian Velasquez (Khiry Shelton 58’), David Villa, Adam Nemec (Patrick Mullins 79’)
Unused substitutes: Ryan Meara, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Patrick Mullins, Thomas McNamara, Connor Brandt
TOTAL SHOTS: 13; SHOTS ON GOAL: 7; FOULS: 20; OFFSIDE: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 3.
Houston Dynamo: Tyler Deric, Raul Rodriguez, David Horst, Jermaine Taylor, DaMarcus Beasley, Oscar Boniek Garcia, Luis Garrido, Ricardo Clark, Alexander Lopez, Will Bruin, Giles Barnes
Unused substitutes: Joe Willis, Kofi Sarkodie, Alex, Leonel Miranda, Zach Steinberger, Chandler Hoffman, Rob Lovejoy
TOTAL SHOTS: 15; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 11; OFFSIDE: 3; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 6
Referee: Sorin Stoica
Referee’s Assistants: Claudio Badea, Eric Weisbrod
4th Official: Mathieu Bourdeau
Attendance: 26,211
Notes:
· New York City FC captain David Villa scored his third goal of the season on a PK in the 46’, tying Mehdi Ballouchy for the team lead in tallies.
· David Villa’s goal was the first successful penalty kick in New York City FC history.
· New York City FC played to its fifth draw of the season. Six other MLS clubs also have five draws this season.
