Frank Lampard came off the bench to score the winning goal in Manchester City’s 3-2 victory over Sunderland on Thursday. The goal highlighted Lampard’s value to City, which moved into a tie for the Premier League lead when Chelsea lost to Tottenham later in the day, but it also exposed a deep wedge between Lampard and American soccer fans who had expected to see him play in New York this spring.

The goal came in Lampard’s first game since Manchester City announced in a one-sentence statement late Wednesday that he would remain with the club through the end of the Premier League season in May. That decision means he will not join New York City F.C. for the start of its inaugural season in Major League Soccer in March.

New York City F.C. introduced Lampard as its marquee player in July, and the team has featured him prominently in its kickoff campaign. It heralds his accomplishments for City regularly on its Twitter feed, and has used his name and image to sell shirts, sponsorships and, most important, more than 11,000 season tickets.

The news that he will stay in Manchester through May, rumored for weeks, caused a public break between the new team and its most prominent fan group, the Third Rail, which released a statement late Wednesday to “publicly denounce” the decisions of Manchester City and Lampard.