NYCFC making a case in the East.

It was a wild night in the Bronx as New York City FC took on Columbus in a game with playoff implications for both teams. The 3-2 result saw New York City leapfrog Columbus in the table and offers the Pigeons a boost of confidence going into the final stretch of the season.

New York City never lead the game until the final minutes. Columbus scored first off a PK, then Hannes Wolf equalized for the home squad. In the second half Wessam Abou Ali sent Columbus in front again with a fine header off a cross from Max Arfsen but Wolf again came to the rescue with a acrobatic second goal minutes later.
it was a round then that Pascal Jansen decided to inject new blood into the line up and the fresh legs of Agustin Ojeda and Julian Fernandez paid off. Ojeda assisted on Wolf’s second goal and was able to find Ferandez in the waning minutes of stoppage time for the go ahead goal. Fernandez sent a beautiful chip over Patrick Schulte to send New York City on top as extra time time expired.

After the match Jansen spoke about the importance of the win for the club. “I mentioned it a couple of games back already — I believe [once you enter]the final stage of the season with around eight games to go, that’s where you either win or lose what you’re after during the league. We were competitive throughout the season, had our ups and downs, [and]a few moments. Going into this stretch with everything still possible, as tight as it is in our league at the moment [every match is like]eight finals. That loss against D.C. [United] was a big one to swallow because we were way better than that team that night, but they punished us for some minor mistakes, and that’s what it is at this level. We had to bounce back, and we did with a good game against Chicago [Fire FC] away. Now it was also time to set things straight against a direct opponent again in our own house. The way they [the players]did it was very impressive and keeps us going towards the end of the season.”

The win, coupled with the win last week in Chicago gives the team two games scoring three goals each. It is a big improvement from the squad earlier in the season who were struggling for goals and inconsistent in results. getting results both at home and away, New York City have won four of their last five league games and head into a match on Saturday with Charlotte that could moved them farther up the table. They have a game in hand on every team above them in The East and seem to be playing with some fire at the right time.

The man of the match, Hannes Wolf, perhaps summed it up the best. But I have to say it’s not just me; the whole team made a big step. You can see the last five, six games. As a player, I feel very comfortable playing in this team right now especially. Today we went down twice and still came back. That’s not just me, but all 11, and also the players who came in did great. We keep going.”

If New York can keep this run of form going against a brutal list of opponents in their last five games, they will make their case to be a team nobody wants to face in the playoffs.