New York City FC (NYCFC) returned to winning ways with a deserved 3-1 win over Toronto at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.
Pascal Jansen’s side shrugged off a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Montreal last weekend to move into sixth in the Eastern Conference, for now at least.
A sweetly-struck Hannes Wolf volley midway through the first half gave NYCFC the lead in a forgettable first half before Mitja Ilenic doubled the NYCFC advantage with a fortunate goal four minutes into the second half.
Tomás Romero offered Toronto a route back into the game when he put through his own net with 20 minutes remaining, but NYCFC responded almost instantly when substitute Kevin O’Toole finished off a flowing team move.
NYCFC has now completed the league double over Toronto following a 1-0 win in Canada back in April.
Jansen said his side was much improved from the defeat at Montreal, stating that NYCFC “let themselves down” last weekend.
“Today we were much better,” Jansen said. “Montreal was below our standards throughout the game.”
In a slow-burner, NYCFC eventually came to life in the second half, with Ilenic and Wolf stepping up to the plate in particular.
Ilenic, making his first appearance since May 28, scored one and assisted another in a stand-out performance from the Slovenian right back. On the opposite flank, Wolf was also influential, scoring a sublime opener and providing a delightful pass for O’Toole’s clincher.
Jansen described Wolf as the “ultimate team player”, adding that Ilenic’s performance was a “good start” as the right back comes back into the side following a stretch with the Slovenian under 21sireworks are scheduled across the US on Friday, but there were no fireworks to be seen in a lifeless first half at Yankee Stadium.
It took a moment of genuine quality to briefly ignite a half that never sparked into life, with Wolf cracking in a sensational opener on 20 minutes.
The Austrian winger connected sweetly with an Ilenic cross to fire a shot across Sean Johnson and into the back of the net off both posts.
If fans had hoped that Wolf’s goal would kick the game into life after a dour opening 20 minutes, they were sadly mistaken.
Both sides struggled to create chances as the half wore on, with Toronto’s Ola Brynhildsen going closest for the visitors when he blazed well over the crossbar near the half-hour mark after good work to outmuscle Thiago Martins.
That was about as good as it got for the remainder of the half as both sides struggled for accuracy in the final third, with more yellow cards distributed (3) than shots on target (2) in the opening period.
The game did liven up after the interval when Ilenic diverted a fizzed Agustin Ojeda cross over Johnson and into the Toronto net to double the New York lead, although the NYCFC right back knew precious little about it.
Romero, deputizing in goal for Matt Freese, came to NYCFC’s rescue twice in 30 seconds to deny Toronto a route back into the game just shy of the hour mark, first producing an excellent save to tip a Theo Corbeanu around the post as it headed for the bottom corner. He was on hand from the resulting corner to deny Brynhildsen from close range as the Norwegian striker looked certain to score.
However, there was nothing Romero could do about Toronto’s goal when it did come on 70 minutes after Corbeanu skinned Birk Risa on the left wing and fired a low cross across the face of goal. Corbeanu’s cross deflected first off Justin Haak before deflecting off Romero and into the back of the net to give Toronto hope.
It only took NYCFC four minutes to snuff out any hopes of a Toronto recovery. At the end of a flowing move, Wolf produced an excellent first-time reverse pass to slip O’Toole in on goal and the substitute made no mistake, coolly slotting beyond Johnson to ease the nerves within Yankee Stadium.
That goal seemed to deflate any hopes of a Toronto comeback as the hosts comfortably held on for an important victory ahead of four straight games on the road starting with a trip to Charlotte on July 12.
Jansen acknowledged that his side has only won once on the road this season but said the differences in some away games have been “very, very small.” However, he also stressed that “lessons have to be learned” from previous games on the road.
