BRONX, NY — Perhaps it was the presence of Valentín (Taty) Castellanos, a leading scorer and 2021 “Golden Boot” winner for most goals scored in the league that led NYCFC to their first MLS CUP championship. Castellanos always had an impact and ignited the ceremonial smokestacks.
But what Hannes Wolf had in baseball what is known as a multi-home run game, two goals on the pitch is a brace. At Yankee Stadium, Aaron Judge has had a share of multi-home runs games that gets attention in a span of a few innings. Wolf got the attention Thursday evening in the Bronx.
Image Credit: NYCFC
NYCFC after a slow start had Wolf’s performance, strikes from Monsef Bakrar and Maxi Moralez for a 4-0 win over Atlanta United. Their only home game this month captivated 18,062 on a muggy night, the largest win for rookie coach Pascal Jansen.
“He was at the right moment, in the right spot and was very clinical in his finish,” Jansen said about Wolf. “So that builds confidence for the team in general, but also for the individual player, because he starts to feel and understand more about the things that we discuss in training, in the video analysis, and making sure that he has to maintain that discipline in order to become successful.”
And without key players due to an international break, Jansen had to be creative. Wolf has been otherwise consistent, his seventh and eighth goals of the season and third brace. Moralez and his late first half goal slotted past Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan.
Image Credit: NYCFC
And a rare moment in the Bronx for NYCFC beginning the second half scoring three goals in a five-minute span. That took Atlanta out of the box, they could not counter. In the 54th minute Bakrar found the net, firing a crisp first-time finish from the edge of the box to double the lead.
Barely three minutes later, it was 3-0. A sweeping counter-attack saw Moralez slip a perfectly timed pass to Wolf. The Austrian forward made no mistake. It would be his night and another three points for NYCFC in the standings after a 1-1 draw at Nashville.
But in the 59th minute they weren’t done. This time, Justin Haak unlocked Atlanta’s high defensive line with a superb through ball.
“I mean, always good to score, of course, and always better if you win,” said Wolf with two goals in back-to-back games. “It was nice feeling in Nashville too, but we adjusted, and got one point there. But at home, especially in front of our fans, it’s always nice to score two goals and get the three points. I think we played very good today and we want to keep going.”
At halftime Jansen had a mission, transition had to be better. Slow up the Atlanta game and results will show, except Wolf became Aaron Judge in a stadium known for heroics.
“We had a good speech from Coach that we have to believe in ourselves because we dominate the game and they were afraid of us” said Bakrar.
“Especially in the runs behind and he asked us to keep the ball more and that’s what we did and we played a counter and we scored four goals.”
Image Credit: NYCFC
Even without regular keeper Matthew Freese who was out on assignment with international dury, El Salvadoran Tomás Romero who opted to continue MLS play, and with minimal minutes, excelled in the net. His first start with NYCFC after making an appearance in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup but never in league play with the team. He is the youngest keeper (24) in NYCFC history to record a clean sheet.
“I saw the chance to play a game, and I’m just happy I got the minutes,” he said. “The clean sheet, and everything. I think I had a good night, and the team in front of me put in so much work. They gave me a lot of confidence. So it was amazing. I’m really happy with it.”
And consistency, that is so important in this league. Jansen alluded to that and NYCFC in their last two are not lacking in their approach. It’s something Jansen has been looking for and believes his team has found it.
“I hope you can see the progress we’re making as a team because consistency is still our most important word for this season,” he said. “Becoming more consistent. It looks like it’s heading in that direction, but we have to be aware of the fact that we have to work so hard in order to get these achievements done.”
And on this night NYCFC continued that consistency. They feel confident as their second half of a season moves along, their next on the road at Montreal in two weeks and returning home to the Bronx July 3 vs. Toronto.
“You have to be patient and give your best at everything that you have inside you every day in training in order to be competitive, and that’s what they do,” said Jansen.
Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and contributor at LatinoSports.com – X: @Ring786, Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
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