From the moment he hit the field with New York City FC, David Villa has been one of the most prolific forwards in Major League Soccer, recently becoming the fifth-fastest player in MLS history to reach the 50-goal mark.
He wasn't able to add to that impressive goal total in Saturday afternoon's memorable 2-0 derby win over the New York Red Bulls, and in fact did not even pick up an assist on either of NYCFC's goals. But he was one of the most influential players on the field, and showed that his influence on NYCFC's play goes beyond what you see on the scoresheet.
Take NYCFC's first goal. It's a well-worked play that comes from an overload on the left flank, and even though Villa doesn't touch the ball in the final buildup, the mere presence of his goalscoring threat plays a crucial role in creating the space needed for Jack Harrison to score:
Take a look at Villa when left back Ben Sweat receives the ball. As Sweat picks his head up, Villa cuts to the byline, drawing Red Bulls center backs Aurelien Collin and Aaron Long with him. Tyler Adams also seems to anticipate a pass to Villa, allowing Sweat to cut an easy ball back to Harrison, who all of a sudden finds himself unmolested with the time and space to pick out the far corner with a first-time effort.
Outside the goal, you can check out some of Villa's other influential actions in the game below:
These are all on the ball actions, as opposed to his cut that helped open space for the first goal, but most of them still draw RBNY defenders to him like magnets. It's always too late, though. Villa's awareness and technical skill allows him to either quickly get the ball off his feet and create a goalscoring chance for a teammate or to beat his defenders on the dribble, as we see with that nasty nutmeg on Adams that sets up a shot on goal for Yangel Herrera.
Also of note in this one – Villa did not get a single touch in the Red Bulls 18-yard box, and his three shots (only one from the run of play) are all from outside the area:
It may be unusual to see considering he's one of the most lethal goalscorers scorers of his generation, but a closer look at his actions here shows that he can have a big influence on the game even when playing deeper in a game plan that – unusually for NYCFC – eschewed the possession game.
His 7-for-17 passing performance is certainly not going to turn any heads, but he still delivered two key passes (yellow square & line, denoting a pass that leads to a goalscoring opportunity) and helped keep the ball for his team otherwise. Namely, all five of his take-on attempts (dribbles) were successful, he drew a joint team-high three fouls and put in a commendable defensive effort for a 35-year-old forward, coming up with three recoveries and an interception before being subbed off in the 83rd minute of a hot and humid East Coast afternoon.
According to NYCFC head coach Patrick Vieira, it was the exact type of performance he was looking for not just from Villa, but from his whole team, which limited the Red Bulls to just one late shot on target and kept two-time MLS Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips from even registering a attempt at goal.
“I always talk about being solid defensively is not just about the back forward or the center backs,” Vieira said after the game. “It's about the team, because when you can see chances that from up front we didn't work well or we didn't work hard enough, and today when you look at the way that David and Jack worked in the first half, then we became a team, a solid team, a hot team to beat.
“When we work well up front, we make it more easy for our back four. So I think that's why this performance showed that when we are working well together as a team, we're going to give ourselves more chance of winning football matches.”
Villa may not have been the Man of the Match at Red Bull Arena (an honor that could go to Herrera, Alex Ring, or even unlikely hero Sweat, who had a goal to go with his assist), but the Spaniard's performance on Saturday afternoon was a perfect example of how influential a player can be even when he's not racking up goals and assists.
