NEW YORK – It started with all the pomp and circumstance of a franchise’s first-ever home opener. It got rolling with a goal by its signature star, David Villa, in the 19th minute. It was put to bed by a second goal in the 84th minute to give New York City FC a 2-0 victory over New England at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.

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Villa delivered the first home goal on a slick give-and-go between himself and Ned Grabavoy in the 19th minute, with Grabavoy's pass hitting Villa in stride as he cut inside of the Revolution back line to find himself 1-v-1 with goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. Villa cooly slotted his shot around Shuttleworth and inside the far post with world-class efficiency. He jogged down the touch line, leaping up in celebration directly in front of the Yankees’ first base dugout.

Missed chances in the final third were rued by both sides, but New England will surely feel it missed the most critical opportunities. Time after time in the first half, Kelyn Rowe and Juan Agudelo seemingly could do anything with the ball at their feet except find the back of the net. Nine attempts on goal led to nothing.

Those chances wouldn’t be nearly as abundant in the second half, especially after Jose Goncalves was sent off in the 66th minute for a challenge on Khiry Shelton as he closed in on goal. Eleven times, the Revolution had an attempt on goal, but only once in the entire match was New York City goalkeeper Josh Saunders forced to make a save.

Every shot seemed to slip just wide of the post, sail a bit too high, or wind up a foot away from the final put away.

“There was a lot of movement, a lot of dangerous balls out wide and they were whipping them in,” Saunders said. “I thought they did well, and we kind of stymied them and frustrated them.”

New York City head coach Jason Kreis felt the second-half disappearance of Revolution chances was partly by design. The Revs only put together two attempts on goal after halftime, and Kreis credited a more offensive approach by NYCFC for shutting them down.

“I just felt like we were being very, very defensive,” Kreis said. “We scored the early goal, which can be good, but it can also be bad in our game. Often times you’ll see a team score an early goal and think it needs to defend for the rest of the match. That can’t be our mindset.

"I feel if we’re going to be that negative about things, we may get by with a point here or there, but over a season we wouldn’t have enough points to be successful. We need to be positive, we need to be aggressive, we need to play in their half of the field.”

NYCFC’s possession spiked from 46 percent in the first half to 57 percent in the second half, living on New England’s end of the field, and it put the game away in the 84th minute when former Rev Patrick Mullins came on and immediately found himself on the end of a Villa pass across the face of the goal. Mullins tapped the ball in and jogged with arms spread in front of the home supporters’ section in left field, soaking up the moment.

A total of 43,507 fans showed up under overcast skies and stood for two hours in a brisk wind to see their new team triumph for the very first time.

“The fans were great. It was a nervous moment for me to not know what the fans would be like, to meet them for the very first time,” Kreis said. “I couldn’t be happier with the support we have and the atmosphere in the stadium.”

New York City hits the road again to play Colorado on Saturday, while New England hosts Montreal the same day.