Frank Lampard debuts in NYCFC in 3-2 loss to Montreal Impact

“n”>Former Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard had an unhappy Major League Soccer debut on Saturday when his new club New York City FC were beaten 3-2 by the Montreal Impact.

For a few moments in the second half of Saturday’s game, Yankee Stadium came to life with energy. After all, considering NYC had played 21 matches without the man who was the figurehead for season ticket sales, what’s another few 90 minutes in the grand scheme of things?

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Ricardo Clark scored for Houston on a header in the 78th minute and the Dynamo tied Sporting Kansas City.

Results recently haven’t suffered.

“I’ll hopefully get the calf right, get some fitness in the meantime and start contributing quickly because you know this season is going on and we need to win games”, Lampard said.

Dominic Oduro and Ignacio Piatti struck in the first half to hand the visitors a commanding lead at the break, with the likes of former Italy star Andrea Pirlo largely ineffective for New York.

The Italian’s touch and awareness was evident from the off, a sweet chipped through ball to Villa classily serving notice of his playmaking intentions.

Salt Lake evened it again five minutes later. I think we have the quality we’ve got in the team.

Frank Lampard acknowledges the applause of fans as he enters the field to warm up. So it’s 20 minutes under the belt if anything.

Lampard joined the action from the bench at the same time as another ex-West Ham star, Nigel Reo-Coker, who was signed by Montreal past year. A pair of phantom penalty kick calls in the second half (one for each side) made the score 3-1 before Thomas McNamara scored an all-around lovely team goal which, of course, featured the brilliance of David Villa. Lampard, however, could only watch on as Piatti extended the lead once more after he was fouled by Saunders.

Better times, however, surely await.