Frank Lampard has finally made his debut appearance for Major League Soccer side New York City FC. He was met with rapturous applause in the Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon, when he came in as a substitute against Montreal Impact.

Despite the standing ovation, the MLS website reports that the conditions were less than ideal for the former England International's debut appearance. He came in to replace Andrew Jacobson with 25 minutes left in the game. At this point, the team was in catch-up mode with Montreal already leading 2-1.

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Dominic Oduro scored for Montreal in the 5^th minute and Ignacio Piatti doubled the lead in the 32^nd. Lampard's fellow European superstar and NYCFC teammate David Villa pulled one back from the spot in the 68^th minute. Lampard came in a minute later amid a standing ovation. Hopes rested heavily on his shoulders as the team struggled to get back in the game.

With the team down by a goal, he needed to hustle to score. He came in under high-pressure and didn't have the time to savor his debut and the fans' adulation.

"It's always difficult to come in when you're chasing the game because you need to get straight into it and you're trying to force things because you need to score goals so you sometimes play forward quicker," said Lampard.

The team eventually lost 3-2 after Piatti scored a goal also from the spot in the 84^th minute. This rendered Tommy McNamara's 85^th minute goal too little too late.

Unfortunately, Lampard came in for his debut and played only 25 minutes on a home game that they lost. He would have wanted to play longer and even to start, but restrictions given by the team's training staff limited his participation. He had been suffering from a lingering calf injury and only started training with the team fully on Friday.

"If it was up to the training staff, they would have limited him to under 20. We made a negotiation and wanted to get Frank on there for as long as we could and 25 [minutes] was the answer," said NYCFC head coach Jason Kreis.

Despite the underwhelming opening performance, Lampard is optimistic. He expressed his desire to find a position in the team's starting lineup in the upcoming games. 

TagsFrank Lampard, New York City FC, David Villa, yankee stadium, Montreal Impact, MLS, Major League Soccer, Football, Soccer, Debut, injury