David Villa scored twice to lead New York City FC to their first home win of the Major League Soccer season on Saturday, a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps. The triumph ended a seven-game winless streak for Patrick Vieira’s men, who rallied from an early 1-0 deficit at Yankee Stadium.
The Whitecaps took the lead in the first minute when Octavio Rivero corralled a loose ball following an error from City goalkeeper Josh Saunders.
But Spain’s Villa scored twice in the space of six minutes—following a goal in the 35th minute with an acrobatic effort off an Andrea Pirlo corner kick in the 41st to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.
“David Villa was a real captain today. He was fantastic,” said Vieira, whose team had lost three and drawn four since winning their opening game of the season. Christian Bolanos pulled the Whitecaps level in the second half, scoring off the rebound after Saunders saved his penalty attempt, but Steven Mendoza beat Vancouver keeper David Ousted at his near post in the 73rd to give City the much needed win.
Elsewhere in week nine, the Colorado Rapids fell behind twice but responded both times to forge a 2-2 draw against the Montreal Impact.
In a clash of the top two teams in MLS, Rapids defender Bobby Burling grabbed the equalizer in the 73rd minute, after Maxim Tissot’s long-range blast had put the Impact up five minutes after halftime.
Montreal had seized an early lead through Didier Drogba’s goal off a free kick, but Shkelzen Gashi answered in the 47th.
The result moved the Rapids into first place in the Western Conference, while Montreal remained atop the East.
In Seattle, the Columbus Crew controlled the pace but the Sounders came away with the victory thanks to rookie striker Jordan Morris’s third goal in three games.
Morris was the quickest to a loose ball in the Crew goalmouth, firing home from close range in the 88th minute.
The Philadelphia Union were up a goal and up a man when San Jose’s Simon Dawkins threaded through a clutch of defenders to grab an equalizer in the 83rd minute that saw the Earthquakes depart Philly with a 1-1 draw.
The Union had taken the lead in the 30th minute through Chris Pontius, and appeared set to hang onto that lead when Anibal Godoy was shown a second yellow card and sent off in the 59th minute.  “That one feels like a loss, being a man up in the second half there,” Pontius said. “The group’s not happy with the result.”