Major League Cup champions Seattle Sounders fell to their seventh defeat of the season following a 2-1 loss to New York City FC over the weekend.

The game was played in soggy conditions in the modified Yankee Stadium, but Sounders managed to score first via a well-timed finish from Cristian Roldan. With the game going into the half at 1-0, Seattle looked good money to maintain their lead until a controversial penalty was awarded in the 52^nd minute. World Cup winner David Villa tried to get New York City FC back into game, and his thrust into the box from the left side saw him topple over Oniel Fisher, who made a well-timed challenge.

However, the referee chose to give the opposition the advantage as he deemed Villa was fouled to the ground. The former Barcelona man eventually converted the penalty to bag the 50^th goal of his New York City FC career, and this provided them the impetus to push forward for the win. Both Seattle and New York had played through steady downpour of rain over the course of the game, and the deciding goal came from none other than Villa himself who timed his shot from the left towards the far post beating Sounders keeper Stefan Frei.

The loss to New York City FC sees Seattle Sounders eight points adrift of leaders Sporting KC and they will have to improve their away performances by a significant margin in order to prepare themselves for the playoffs. The Western Conference have sort of lost their glamour in comparison to the Eastern Conference in recent years, and it appears that the spending might could eventually bridge the gap between the Major League Soccer clubs. Meanwhile, New York City FC are up to third in the standings, five behind first-placed Toronto FC.