New York City’s new Major League Soccer franchise has enjoyed immediate, bigger than expected fan support and that embrace was on full display Sunday as NYCFC hosted its cross-river rival at Yankee Stadium.

I sat in section 208 for match number two of three between NYCFC and the Red Bulls this season. I’m attending all three regular season games in the 2015 series. My allegiance remains squarely with the Bulls despite the fact their home building is about an hour further to reach from Queens.

Criticism over NYCFC”s narrow field (in defiance of league rules) and reliance on splashy, over-the-hill European stars has not blunted enthusiasm about the expansion franchise. Yankee Stadium was sold out Sunday with an announced attendance of 48.047. There was a legitimate buzz in the building throughout. NYCFC merchandise was being sold in bunches and the ballpark was actually dressed up in a customized manner for soccer. Even the lousy gin mills in the immediate vicinity of the Stadium had legitimate soccer vibes inside as the match approached.

As I said when the two teams played in Harrison, NJ seven weeks ago, this is exactly what the city’s soccer fan was hoping for when Don Garber forced through NYCFC’s entry to the league. It’s great fun to have such spirit associated with the sport in this region and it seems to have taken an inside-the-city-limits franchise deployment to bring the frenzied effect that’s in place. I definitely wouldn’t have predicted the kind of success NYCFC is experiencing in terms of early support. NYCFC has played nine home matches to date and is averaging 28,934 per game. I thought their use of a converted baseball stadium as a temporary fix to their lack of a permanent home would be a detriment. Instead, they’re putting big numbers in there and the configuration of the field is such that it’s not a bad place to watch a match. It’s not as good as the great soccer-specific palaces like the one in Harrison but you can put a lot of people in Yankee Stadium and everybody seems happy inside it – and in the neighborhood bars beforehand.

Frank Lampard makes his blue debut in two weeks and Andrea Pirlo is not far behind. Both were at the match Sunday. They were shown on the big video board in the first half and the crowd went crazy. The pair will join David Villa to form a big-name trio aimed at making a publicity splash that will solidify the early gate success.

This type of team construction seems to be how new MLS franchises start off before settling in on a concept that is more purely designed at building chemistry and balance. With Thierry Henry’s retirement, the Red Bulls find themselves without a big name star and they’re doing just fine.

Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his sixth goal of the season early in the second half Sunday to tie the match and swing momentum strongly in favor of the Bulls. Wright-Phillips earns just a fraction of what NYCFC striker David Villa (pictured above) is paid (6 mil estimated annual) and has a much stronger knack for finding the net.

Villa sells t-shirts however and Wright-Phillips not so much.

I thought it was interesting when NYCFC scored the game’s first goal. Tommy McNamara pulled in a nice header feed from Andrew Jacobson and punched it inside the far post. Villa came to Tommy Mac for a hug and Mac ran away and ignored him – just as Villa often does to his teammates when he has the ball.

Villa actually looked a little more energized Sunday than when I saw him quit the match in Harrison but he still goes a bit too strong on the solo act.

This outcome easily could have been 6-1 Bulls given their dominance in the second half. It ended at 3-1 with the large contingent of red-clad fans in the upper deck sticking around for the traditional exchange of appreciation with the team they came to see win.

NYCFC heartiest supporters sit in the left field bleachers behind the north goal. They were great too, I thought. Loud, tasteful and spirited. A couple of their banners poked fun at the Bulls but they were in good fun.

We’ll wait six more weeks for the final regular season match between these two. It’ll happen back in Harrison.

-Since I haven’t seen Kristaps Porzingis play beyond some of the tape on You Tube, I don’t know what kind of NBA player he’ll be. The folks at Atlantic and Flatbush who booed him roundly when Adam Silver called his name last Thursday night obviously aren’t being fair. Who knows who those goofs wearing Knicks shirts making a ruckus at the draft were. The public aspect/crowd reaction part of the draft has always elicited abnormal behavior especially when it’s conducted in New York. But the people who booed Porzingis were presumably expressing displeasure with the organization’s draft history more than at the kid himself. I mean, who were the Knicks supposed to take at number 4 overall? The lottery had relegated them into a slot that just happened to be outside the range of three can’t-miss selections. The only drama going in was whether Philly might take Porzingis and perhaps leave Russell on the table. But then the Lakers threw a wrench in things by taking Russell at number two leaving the Sixers no choice but to take Okafor. I suppose Cauley-Stein would have been the safer choice when the Knicks were up but if Phil wants to take a project he believes in, why not trust him? Phil already whiffed on his first big decision by giving the max deal to Melo and so now he’s left with less flexibility and less time to build around the me-first, shoot-first, no-D, injury prone, hope-he’s-hot outside shooter. Melo is said to be unhappy with the Porzingis pick which for me is the top reason I like the selection. Go Knicks. Go Kristaps.