When Hannes Wolf bagged a brace in New York City FC's thrilling 3-2 comeback win over the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night, he cemented himself as just the 10th player in club history to reach 10 goals in a single league campaign.
The Austrian now has 16 goals and assists in Major League Soccer in 2025, the highest league tally of his career. He's even level with his Costa Rican partner in attack, Alonso Martínez. Yet, while Martínez receives most of the plaudits from pundits and attention from defenders, Wolf is often left out of the spotlight.
New York City FC | Goals by Season
| Player | Year | Goals | Mins | G/90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Villa | 2016 | 23 | 2869 | 0.72 |
| 2 | David Villa | 2017 | 22 | 2556 | 0.77 |
| 3 | Taty Castellanos | 2021 | 19 | 2760 | 0.62 |
| 4 | David Villa | 2015 | 18 | 2514 | 0.64 |
| 5 | Alonso Martínez | 2024 | 16 | 1498 | 0.96 |
| 6 | Héber | 2019 | 15 | 1575 | 0.86 |
| Alonso Martínez | 2025 | 15 | 2245 | 0.60 | |
| 7 | David Villa | 2018 | 14 | 1754 | 0.72 |
| 9 | Taty Castellanos | 2022 | 13 | 1436 | 0.81 |
| 10 | Frank Lampard | 2016 | 12 | 1280 | 0.84 |
| Alexandru Mitriță | 2019 | 12 | 2172 | 0.50 | |
| Santiago Rodríguez | 2024 | 12 | 2799 | 0.39 | |
| 13 | Ismael Tajouri-Shradi | 2018 | 11 | 1547 | 0.64 |
| Taty Castellanos | 2019 | 11 | 2052 | 0.48 | |
| Hannes Wolf | 2025 | 11 | 2264 | 0.44 | |
| 16 | Jack Harrison | 2017 | 10 | 2757 | 0.33 |
But there's a simple reason for this — he's not a flashy player.
Yes, the Austrian has a flair for the dramatic, with late goals and impressive finishes, but he's also a forward who often spends much of a game doing the dirty work that helps get his side over the line. He's more than just a solid finisher inside the box; he's an attacker who has logged more defensive contributions than nearly every other winger in the league.
Hudson River Blue Staff
Doing the dirty work
When clubs prepare to face New York City, it's fair to say that the defensive preparations usually revolve around trying to find a way to limit Martínez's impact on the match. And this is for good reason — the striker is lightning-quick and can dart into open channels of space in the blink of an eye. He's a pest, often requiring multiple defenders to track his movement.
The same cannot be said for Wolf.
The Austrian is not a strong dribbler: His 35.4% completion rate ranks in just the 22nd percentile for successful dribbles among forwards in the league. And when he does attempt to drive towards his man, he's dispossessed more often than not, ranking in the 8th percentile in the league, having been dispossessed 36 times this season.
That raises the question: What is Wolf's impact on the game if he's not getting past his man?
One answer: His defensive contributions.
