New York City FC survives late scare to defeat San Jose Earthquakes

New York City FC pulled off a narrow 3-2 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, despite the narrative nearly turning into a fairy-tale comeback for the visitors in the second half.

Neither team could establish a foothold in the first half, but New York City broke the deadlock early in the second, when Ned Grabavoy put home the first goal of the contest off of a smart through pass by captain David Villa in the 51st minute.

Villa picked up the ball in midfield from a Frank Lampard header, then sent a pass onto Grabavoy, whose low shot beat David Bingham to give NYCFC a 1-0 lead.

Grabavoy wouldn't stop there, though, adding a second goal to his tally on the hour mark. Lampard made his way down the right wing, delivering a driven cross towards Grabavoy in the box, who made short work of the header, burying home the effort to double his side's lead over San Jose.

David Villa was obviously watching his teammate closely. In what looked like a case of monkey see, monkey do, the Spanish international added a third to New York's tally in eerily similar fashion just a few minutes later.

Full-back Angelino burst down the left, sending a fast cross onto Villa in the middle of the box, and the Spanish striker matched Grabavoy's header with one of his own to notch his 16th goal of the year and put New York up 3-0.

But New York was shocked back to reality in the 72nd minute, when their shutout was broken. San Jose's Quincy Amarikwa leaped high into the air on a corner kick and smacked a header past goalkeeper Josh Saunders to put the Earthquakes on the board.

Just minutes later, New York gave up a penalty when Amarikwa was pulled down in the box by Angelino. Chris Wondolowski stepped up and kept his perfect penalty form up for the season, scoring to make it 3-2.

But the home side regained control of the game from there, stifiling any hope of a San Jose comeback. Midfielder Andrea Pirlo nearly scored a fourth goal for New York City, Olimpico style, off a corner kick in added time. Three goals would prove to be enough for the home side, though, as New York City would hold on for the home win.