Hannes Wolf and Mitja Ilenic lead New York City FC to 3-1 win over Toronto FC

By Chris Tsakonas

New York City FC got back into the win column with a 2-0 win over Toronto FC at Yankee Stadium tonight. Hannes Wolf and Mitja Ilenic each scored and assisted once in the win, while Kevin O’Toole also found the back of the net.

Here are three observations from New York City’s 10th win of the season.

Choppy start to first half

While the match ended up being a four-goal affair, the early stages of the match struck a vastly different tone. Through the opening 15 minutes, each team had created just one shot - with Mitja Ilenic’s long-range effort being easily stopped by Sean Johnson. During that stretch, referee Fotis Bazakos called six fouls - including a yellow card to Toronto FC’s Kevin Long.

“Given the fact that they are well structured [and] well prepared, it takes a little more time,” head coach Pascal Jansen said after the match. “Once you have that momentum, you have that goal [and] the advantage, you can build from that.”

Ilenic and Wolf lead the way

The two common threads linking all three of New York City’s goals tonight were Ilenic and Wolf, as each finished with one goal and one assist in the win.
They both combined for the first time in the 20th minute. Ilenic collected the ball on the right edge of the penalty area before delivering a cross to the back left post, where Wolf struck a powerful one-time volley to give New York City a 1-0 lead.

Ilenic found the back of the net himself in the 48th minute, when he deflected a cross from Agustin Ojeda past former New York City FC keeper Sean Johnson. Wolf earned his assist in the 74th minute, when he squared the ball to set up the third goal of the match from O’Toole.

Toronto FC stifled defensively
Another consistent theme of the match was Toronto’s inability to create and finish quality chances against New York City’s back line. Despite creating four shots in the first half of play, Toronto wasn’t able to capitalize as none of those came on target. Toronto’s first shot on goal didn’t come until the 55th minute, when a close-range effort from Theo Corbeanu was stopped by New York City goalkeeper Tomas Romero.

Even Toronto’s only goal of the match came on a mishap: in the 70th minute, a low ball across the box from Corbeanu was deflected by Romero into the back of the net to make it a 2-1 game. Toronto finished with six total shots in the match, with just two of those being on target.

Next Up
New York City will have nine days before kicking off a four-match road trip against Charlotte FC on July 12. Live commentary with Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence will get underway at 7:15 P.M. at newyorkcityfc.com/radio and the New York City FC app.