Wolf 3, Crew 0 To Give NYCFC Win At Stadium

NYCFC celebrate taking a 2-0 lead early in the match. Photo by Jason Schott.

 

New York City Football Club, backed by a Hannes Wolf hat trick, got a much-needed 3-0 win over the Columbus Crew on Sunday evening at Yankee Stadium.

NYCFC earned their first win since March 14, which was also at Yankee Stadium. This broke their seven-game MLS winless streak - five losses and two draws - and improved their record to 4-3-5, with 15 points, and they move into seventh place in the MLS Eastern Conference.

This was Wolf's first-ever hat trick for NYCFC across all competitions. 

Wolf leaped to five goals on the season, he now ranks second on the team in scoring. His other goals came on March 1 at Philadelphia and on April 4 at home against St. Louis. He has six goal contributions this season, as he also notched an assist in an earlier match.

Wolf's first goal came in the 12th minute on a beautiful play that started with NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese getting it to Maxi Moralez.

The ball got to Nicolas Fernandez Mercau at the midline, and he fired it to the right side of the box, where Agustin Ojeda caught up to it, and he sent it back to a trailing Wolf, and he buried it to make it 1-0 NYCFC.

Then, in the 16th minute, Columbus was moving the ball upfield when Dylan Chambost fired a pass that Moralez knocked down.

That gave NYCFC possession, with Nico Cavallo corralling it in the left corner, and he dropped it ahead to Mercau along the touchline, and he sent it to the box, where Wolf was waiting, and he flicked it off the top of his shoe and in the net to give them a 2-0 lead.

It stayed that way well into the second half, when NYCFC broke through in the 66th minute.

NYCFC had possession, but Wolf sent the play into overdrive when he sent a pass along the left side into the corner, where Cavallo received it. He then sent a pass towards the center of the box, where a Columbus defender deflected it, but Mercau was able to get to it, and drop it off to Wolf, and he fired one from the top of the box and in to make it 3-0.

The scene after NYCFC went up 3-0. Photo by Jason Schott.

NYCFC Head Coach Pascal Jansen said of Wolf's hat trick, "We're always trying to be as fluid as possible and players will end up in positions and areas where we think they can either be dangerous or help other players become even more dangerous. Hannes has his part in that. One of those things is trying to find moments in the center part of the pitch, combined with either setup play or run-ins behind. If you see especially the third goal, it's an interesting one because he's the one who sets it up with Nico Cavallo as a third-man run, and then he has the final touch at the end of the 18 because he follows up and his intention is to enter the box with a clean finish. Clinical finishing was something we needed to be more aware of going into this third block of games. I'm very happy he was able to get three shots on target and make three goals."

Fernandez Mercau notched three assists, his first of the season, to go along with his team-leading eight goals.

Ojeda received an assist on the first goal, giving him three on the season. He now has six goal contributions, a single-season high for him, as he also has three goals on the season.

Cavallo had an assist on the second goal, his first ever goal contribution for NYCFC.

NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese earned the clean sheet, as he made two saves. Columbus had 11 shots on goal, but only two on target, while NYCFC had nine shots, but six on target, a far greater percentage.

This was NYCFC's home finale before the World Cup hiatus. They have three more MLS matches on the road, starting with this Wednesday, May 13, at Charlotte, with kickoff at 7:15 p.m.

NYCFC then play the Red Bulls in a Hudson River Derby match on Saturday, May 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Harrison, NJ. before going to Nashville on Sat. May 23 at 8:30 p.m.

There also is a U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal matchup at Columbus on Wednesday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m.