New York City FC forward David Villa was voted the Alcatel MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for the 22nd week of the 2017 MLS season.
Villa scored his first MLS hat trick to lead New York City FC to an important 3-2 victory in the Hudson River Derby against Red Bulls on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
The World Cup winner now sits atop the Golden Boot standings with 17 goals to go along with his seven assists this season. With a league-leading 24 combined goals and assists, Villa has led New York to third place in the Eastern Conference standings (40 points, 12-7-4 overall record).
Spain’s all-time leading scorer put NYCFC on the board in the 28th minute when a deflection put Villa through with no defenders in front of him, as he rounded the keeper and calmly slotted a left-footed shot into the back of the net to give his club the 1-0 advantage.
Following two Red Bull goals, Villa dazzled to find the equalizer in the 72nd minute. After picking up the ball at midfield, Villa dribbled through a crowd of defenders in the box and blasted a rocket near post past goalkeeper Luis Robles.
READ: Spotlight on David Villa vs. Red Bulls
With the game all even at 2-2, Villa drew a penalty minutes later, finishing with a right-footed strike from the spot to give NYCFC a 3-2 lead in the 75th minute.
New York City FC returns to action on Saturday, August 12 when traveling to take on the LA Galaxy at StubHub Center (11 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN Deportes).
The MLS Player of the Week is selected each week of the regular season by a panel of journalists from NASR. The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media.
