David Villa netted his 16th goal of the season as New York City FC pulled out a 1-0 home win over the LA Galaxy to remain atop the Eastern Conference.
Villa's sixth-minute strike did not come without controversy, as the Spanish striker appeared to be in an offside position when Ronald Matarrita drilled a low shot on frame. Matarrita's effort took a looping deflection of LA 'keeper Clement Diop and Villa was on hand to put it home for the lone goal of the game.
NYCFC would continue to generate the better chances throughout the game, even as the narrowly lost the possession battle following their early goal. The home side did need a fingertip save from Josh Saunders to push away a Nigel de Jong bicycle kick late in the first half, and were fortunate to see LA fail to connect on a couple second-half chances.
Box Score
- 6' – NYC – David Villa
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Three Things
OFFSIDE?:
While NYCFC’s effort to earn three points and a rare clean sheet is certainly commendable, the major talking point coming out of this one will be David Villa’s goal. The Spanish striker certainly appeared to be offside – between the last and second-to-last man, and ahead of the ball – when Matarrita took the initial shot that deflected of Clement Diop:
It should be noted, however, that NYCFC had a strong penalty shout turned down less than a minute before after Frank Lampard appeared to have been brought down by Jelle Van Damme in the area.
OUT-SHOT, AGAIN:
The Galaxy have been able to get by this season while being consistently out-shot by their opponents. Bruce Arena has made no secret about the fact that he doesn’t put much faith into the analytical side of the game, but questions remain as to whether the trend is sustainable.
, and though LA had a few close looks not go their way, the shot charts and do not make for pretty postgame reading:
