By Chris Tsakonas
NEW YORK – New York City FC snapped a seven-match winless streak with a 3-0 win over the Columbus Crew at Yankee Stadium this afternoon. Hannes Wolf scored both goals for the Pigeons in the 12th and 16th minute to clinch the three points.
Here are three thoughts from New York City’s win.
Lightning strikes twice for Hannes Wolf
New York City controlled the run of play immediately after the opening whistle – and in the 12th minute, the Pigeons drew first blood.
Nico Fernandez Mercau started the counter attack with a long ball out of the back to find Agustin Ojeda. Ojeda then played it into the middle to set up Wolf, who beat Patrick Schulte to open the scoring with his first goal in five matches.
Four minutes later, Wolf struck again. This time, it started off a long ball from Nico Cavallo to find Fernandez Mercau on the left side. Fernandez Mercau cut it back to set up Wolf in the middle for the finish to make it a 2-0 lead.
Pigeons contain the Crew defensively
After Wolf’s first two goals, Columbus began to control the possession. Despite holding 58 percent of the ball in the first half, the Crew struggled to turn that into quality scoring chances with just three total shots in the first half for a total of 0.14 expected goals.
The tempo of shots picked up slightly in the second half, but New York City still did a good job of denying quality scoring chances. The best opportunity of the match was in the 62nd minute, when Diego Rossi got off a free header in the middle that was caught by Matt Freese at close range.
Wolf seals the deal
The second half started off quietly for New York City, with just one shot in the first 20 minutes after halftime.
That changed in the 66th minute. A deflected cross into the middle fell to Wolf at the top of the box, and he beat Schulte again with a powerful shot to clinch his first-ever career hat trick and secure the win for the Pigeons.
It was New York City’s first hat trick in MLS play since Alonso Martinez scored three goals against FC Dallas last July.
Next Up
New York City has just two days off before returning to the pitch at Charlotte FC on Wednesday night. Live radio commentary for the match will get underway with the Pregame Show at 7:15 p.m., with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence on the call from Bank of America Stadium. The broadcast can be heard at newyorkcityfc.com/radio.
