One of the few positive take-aways from New York City FC’s loss Saturday to the Montreal Impact was the continued offensive assault from striker David Villa, who contributed on both of NYCFC’s goals in the disappointing 3-2 defeat.
Villa, 33, netted his 13th goal of the season on a penalty kick and now trails only Columbus Crew’s Kei Kamara (15 goals) for the MLS lead. He also recorded his fifth assist of the season on Tommy McNamara’s late goal.
The Spanish national team’s all-time leading scorer, Villa’s transition to the MLS has gone as well as NYCFC could have hoped after the team signed him to a three-year contract worth roughly $6 million annually in June 2014, giving him the distinction of being the franchise’s first player.
Amid all the hoopla surrounding the arrivals of fellow European stars Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard, Villa has really heated up this summer by scoring a remarkable 10 goals in his past eight matches, with NYCFC going 3-4-1 during that stretch.
NYCFC has struggled to find a goal scorer capable of complementing Villa’s production, as McNamara and Patrick Mullins are tied for second on the team in scoring with just four goals apiece.
Playing the remainder of the season with Pirlo and Lampard creating plays in the midfield will surely help NYCFC’s attack and hopefully allow another forward to emerge as a consistent scoring threat next to Villa.
With 12 regular season matches remaining, even if NYCFC (6-10-6, eighth in Eastern Conference) fails to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season, the club can at least take some solace in the event Villa is able to take home the MLS Golden Boot trophy for the league’s top goal scorer, which should be attainable at his current pace.
