Back in the New York City FC starting lineup after coming off the bench against Sporting Kansas City last weekend, Tommy McNamara was back to doing what he does best – create scoring chances.
McNamara made his 17th start of the season Sunday, back in his familiar spot in Patrick Vieira’s three-man front line with David Villa and Jack Harrison.
In helping lead NYCFC to a critical 3-1 win over Montreal, McNamara recorded the first multi-assist game of his career, moving ahead of Andrea Pirlo into the team lead with eight assists. He is third in MLS, behind Sacha Kljestan (10) of the New York Red Bulls and Mauro Diaz (9) from FC Dallas.
McNamara’s first assist came on David Villa’s league-leading 13th goal of the season in the 35th minute. He received the ball from RJ Allen and took a quick touch outside to create space before playing a perfect ball to Villa on the left edge of the 18-yard box.
From deep in the midfield, McNamara then provided the helper on Jack Harrison’s game-winning goal in first-half stoppage time, switching fields to an open Harrison on the right side of the field.
It is McNamara’s first multi-point game since he had one goal and one assist in a season-opening 4-3 win over the Chicago Fire. He also had one goal and one assist in wins over D.C. United (3-1) and Orlando City SC (5-3) last season.
