New York City FC’s David Villa Scores 400TH Career Goal
New York City FC captain David Villa scored his 400th career goal for club and country Sunday night against FC Dallas from the penalty spot in the 36th minute in a 3-1 win over FC Dallas at Yankee Stadium.
This was Villa’s 68th goal in City colors, having scored for six other clubs across the globe as well as the Spanish national team. Number 400 puts him in a highly respected class of current footballers: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Los Angeles Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic are the only other playing footballers to score as many times as Villa.
NYCFC
At the next home match vs Colorado on Saturday, May 19th, there will be a pre-match ceremony to honor David’s achievement and the first 10,000 fans through the gate will receive a captain’s armband.
Goals by team:
Valencia CF – 129
New York City FC – 68
Spanish National Team – 59
FC Barcelona – 48
Sporting Gijon – 41
Real Zaragoza – 38
Atletico Madrid – 15
Melbourne City – 2
Milestones:
1st Professional Goal – 10/10/01 vs Real Oviedo
100th Professional Goal – 03/19/06 vs Racing Santander
200th Professional Goal – 04/19/09 vs Sevilla
300th Professional Goal – 11/28/12 vs Alaves
400th Professional Goal – 04/29/18 vs FC Dallas
Villa has scored…
- Against 118 different clubs and countries
- Against 19 different countries’ club teams
- Against 35 different clubs in Spain
- On 6 of 7 continents
- 9 hat tricks for club and country
- 16 goals vs Sevilla – most vs any opponent
- 74 penalties for club and country
New York City FC
NYCFC’s first signing, Villa has been instrumental in the Club’s success since inception. His first goal for the Club came on March 15, 2015 in his first MLS match in Yankee Stadium in the 19th minute against the New England Revolution in a 2-0 victory. Villa played a tidy one-two with Ned Grabavoy and dribbled past Revolution defenders to calmly slot the ball into the back of the net.
In 2016, Villa captured MLS MVP honors after scoring 23 goals en route to NYCFC’s first playoff appearance and became the first player in MLS history to score 20 goals in back-to-back seasons, finishing the 2017 campaign with 22 goals.
Sporting Gijon
El Guaje (“The Kid”) quickly established himself as a lethal asset in front of goal for Sporting Gijon, his first professional team based in his native Asturias. Villa became a local legend netting his first professional goal in an Asturian Derby match against Real Oviedo in the Copa del Rey. A few weeks later, his first professional league goal came on October 21st, 2001 against Gimnastic de Tarragona in the Spanish Segunda Division. That season, his first full season professional, Villa scored 18 times for Sporting Gijon. The next season, Villa scored 20 league goals for the first time in his career and his form led to a transfer to La Liga side Real Zaragoza at season’s end.
Real Zaragoza
His introduction to Spain’s first division was successful right from the start. Seventeen goals in his first season put Villa in the running for the Pichichi Trophy, awarded to La Liga’s top scorer. His goal scoring record at Zaragoza put in him the same category as Brazilian legend Ronaldo and future Spain teammate Fernando Torres, amongst others.
CF & Spanish National Team
After his second season in Zaragoza, and another double-digit goal tally, Villa was on the move again to Valencia CF. In his first season there, he scored 25 league goals, one shy of Samuel Eto’o for the Pichichi.
At Valencia is where Villa’s international career took off. A few months after his transfer to Valencia, El Guaje was called into the Spanish national team for the first time. Villa scored his first goal for La Roja in a World Cup qualifying against Slovakia on November 16th, 2005.
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