New York City vs Atlanta player ratings

New York City FC player ratings are determined by you the Hudson River Blue readers: Here are your NYCFC player ratings after the 4-0 thumping of Ronny Deila’s Atlanta United in The Bronx on Matchday 18. 

Expectations were low heading into Thursday’s game. Both New York City and Atlanta were without key players because of the international break, and a NYCFC attack that routinely underperforms was going to be without Alonso Martínez up to and Keaton Parks in midfield. But NYCFC’s depth came through, serving up a 4-0 shutout of Atlanta in the biggest win of the season so far.

Your player ratings reflect the result, with the Starting XI receiving a season-best 7.5 average rating. It doesn’t stop there: A total of eight starters earned their highest ratings of the season so far, with Justin Haak, Andrés Perea, Maxi Moralez, Agustín Ojeda, Birk Risa, Tomás Romero, Strahinja Tanasijević, and Hannes Wolf all hitting new highs.

But wait, there’s more. Head coach Pascal Jansen’s 8.3 tops the 8.2 he earned for the 2-0 win over New York Red Bulls on May 17. And even the referee got in on the fun: Sergii Boiko’s 7.4 is the best rating since Allen Chapman’s 7.2 for that same Red Bulls game.

Wolf’s two goals and one assist earned him a 9.1, which marks the first time this year that a player reached the 9s. Wolf now has 13 goals since joining NYCFC, equalling Tommy McNamara’s total, and 10 assists, making him the 10th player to reach double digits in club history. We’ll get deeper into those juicy numbers below.

Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.

NYCFC’s attack bursts to life in 4-0 win over Atlanta

A blend of tactical adaptability, defensive composure, and attacking flair delivered a comprehensive New York City FC win against a talented Atlanta United side.

Hudson River BlueAbe Shire

Player Spotlight 

Tomás Romero

There were plenty of candidates for the Player Spotlight this week.

Consider Moraelz, who rolled back the years by scoring one goal and assisting another in a near-perfect performance as a playmaker. Or Tanasijević, who made a surprise start at right-back and handled Atlanta’s Aleksey Miranchuk, formerly of Atalanta BC and Torino FC, without getting into the disciplinary trouble that (let’s be honest) we all expect of him now. Or Haak, who added his third assist of the season after logging exactly zero MLS assists in his previous six seasons. Or Jan Sport, who is now a Pride night icon.

But the spotlight belongs to Tomás Romero, who earned a clean sheet in his New York City debut while Matt Freese is away with the United States men’s national team for the Concacaf Gold Cup. Romero was a dynamic presence in the goal, making three saves in his first MLS appearance since 2023: He might be a backup to superstar keeper Matt Freese, but he looked like an everyday starter.

In fact, the 24-year-old is the youngest NYCFC goalkeeper to earn a clean sheet, and the first to do it in his club debut. He’s the sixth New York City shot-stopper to log a shutout — which makes only Eirik Johansen, the backup in 2016 and 2017, the only goalkeeper without a clean sheet for NYCFC.

The USMNT is looking to advance in the Gold Cup and win it all, which means Freese could be away through July 6. That means Romero could be in goal on Matchday 19, when NYCFC is in Montréal on June 28, and Matchday 20, when the team hosts Toronto at Yankee Stadium on July 3. If that’s the case, New York City is in good hands.

Player of the Match

Hannes Wolf

For the second consecutive game, Hannes Wolf is your Player of the Match.

It’s also the second consecutive brace for Wolf, who now has eight goals this season and 13 goals since coming to NYCFC at the start of 2024. That lifts him to 14th place on the club’s all-time scoring list for league games, equal with McNamara and one behind Talles Magno. At the rate Wolf is going, he should climb into the Top 10 this summer.

New York City FC | MLS Goals, All-Time

Even better, both of Wolf’s goals tonight were quality.

First, there was the goal that was slotted past a diving Brad Guzan in the 57th minute: Maxi Moralez released Wolf, who carried the ball into the box up the left, squared himself with the goal, then placed a pass into the back of the net. It’s calm and composed, as cold of a goal as you’ll see in this league.

Two minutes later, Wolf struck again. This time, he was released by a pass from Haak deep in the defensive third: Wolf sprinted from the halfway line, dusting three Atlanta defenders – including one who simply collapsed from the effort of trying to keep up – before taking the ball into the box and chipping it over a diving Guzan.

While these two goals iced the win, Wolf’s greatest contribution came earlier in the game, when he assisted the opening goal scored by Moraelz. Wolf brought the ball into the box, then laid off a pass to the playmaker, who then fired a near-post shot that crossed up Guzan.

That assist is Wolf’s second this season and 10th all-time for NYCFC, which makes him the 10th player to reach double digits for the club. Wolf is just one assist off the 11 logged by Andrea Pirlo in his three seasons with New York City, and by Alex Ring in four seasons. Wolf’s 0.22 assists per 90 minutes is slightly ahead of the 0.21 put up by Santiago Rodríguez in his time with the club, and trails only Moralez’s 0.32 assists per 90.

New York City FC | MLS Assists, All-Time

No wonder Wolf took 89.5% of the vote this week on his way to his fourth POTM this season. That puts him even with Martínez and Freese, who also have four each — it looks like Wolf is finally living up to his potential, and becoming the franchise player we were told he could be.