Teal Bunbury scored the Revs’ lone goal. (Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)

BRONX, N.Y. — Jonathan Lewis struck four minutes into stoppage time to lift New York City FC to a 2-1 comeback win over the New England Revolution at Yankee Stadium Sunday night.

Lewis tallied his second goal of the MLS season from seven yards off a Ben Sweat pass as City avoided its second draw with the Revs, before a crowd of 22,415.

The result allowed second-place NYCFC t(14-7-4, 46 points) o keep pace with leader Toronto FC(14-3-8, 50)  in the Eastern Conference and gave the side some breathing room ahead of third-place Chicago (12-8-5, 41).

The less said about the first half, the better.

Most of the game was played in the midfield and when both teams managed to get close to the goal, either sloppy play or poor execution stopped anything that resembled a decent chance on net.

The Revs had something to do with that, keeping five men on the backline as they found a way to clog all of City’s passing and shooting lanes.

Villa had NYCFC’s best opportunity when his 15-yard shot off Jack Harrison’s freed sailed wide right in the 16th minute.

New England wasn’t much better. Striker Kei Kamara headed Teal Bunbury’s left-wing cross over the net in the 22nd minute.

U.S. international midfielder Kelyn Rowe actually tested NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson in the 39th minute as he sent a blistering shot from distance that the keeper managed to get a hand on. The ball then ricocheted off the left post, but nothing came of the rebounds.

A mistake by Sean Johnson gave the Revs a goal in the 57th minute. A Rowe free kick was headed out of the penalty area by City defender Ben Sweat to Andrew Farrell, who smashed a shot that a startled Johnson spilled in front of the net. Teal Bunbury was there to slot home the rebound from two yards for a 1-0 New England lead.

Villa came close to equalizing in the 73rd minute when he fired a bouncing shot toward the right corner of the net that keeper Cody Cropper managed to tip away.

The Spanish international woke up the slumbering crowd in the 77th minute as he slipped home a six-yard shot past Cropper for a 1-1 tie. The goal was Villa’s league-leading 19th of the season and his 60th of his MLS career.

Scoring Summary:
57’ – NER: Teal Bunbury
77’ – NYC: David Villa
90’+4’ – NYC: Jonathan Lewis (Assisted By: Ben Sweat, David Villa
Disciplinary Summary:
53’ – NER: Benjamin Angoua (Yellow Card)
59’ – NYC: Frederic Brillant (Yellow Card)
75’ – NYC: RJ Allen (Yellow Card)
89’ – NYC: Yangel Herrera (Yellow Card)
Lineups:    
New York City FC: Sean Johnson; Ben Sweat, Alexander Callens, Frederic Brillant, RJ Allen; Mikey Lopez (Se, Yangel Herrera, Maxi Moralez; Rodney Wallace, Jack Harrison (61’ Khiry Shelton); David Villa (C)
Substitutions Not Used: Eirik Johansen, Andrea Pirlo, Thomas McNamara, Kwame Awuah
New England Revolution: Cody Cropper; Benjamin Angoua (61’ Scott Caldwell), Antonio Milnar Delamea, Claude Dielna, Andrew Farrell; Xavier Kouassi (70’ Diego Fagundez), Teal Bunbury, Kelyn Rowe, Gershon Koffie, Juan Agudelo
Substitutions Not Used: Brad Knighton, Chris Tierney, Scott Caldwell, Diego Fagundez, London Woodberry, Femi Hollinger-Janzen, Lee Nguyen

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.