New York City FC not concerned over carrying scoring drought into MLS playoffs

As goes the leader, so goes the country.

In the case of New York City FC, that notion is best amended to: As go Alonso Martínez and Hannes Wolf, so goes the club. Martínez and Wolf accounted for 28 of NYCFC’s 56 total goals in the regular season, and the pair will be instrumental to any run the team makes in this year’s MLS Cup playoffs, which kick off Tuesday as City faces Charlotte FC in Game 1 of their best-of-three, first-round series. 

That also means that the current offensive drought can’t be overlooked, either, with NYCFC scoring four goals — three coming in a Sept. 27 win over the Red Bulls — over their final four matches of the regular season.

Martínez, who has scored 17 goals this year, has not found the back of the net in his last three appearances, and Wolf has not scored since their Sept. 17 win over Columbus.

Martínez didn’t seem too worried when he asked about the scoring drought, and he wasn’t feeling any added pressure to score. 

“It’s just been the last few games that I haven’t been able to score,” Martínez explained to The Post through an interpreter. “I think it’s been the schedule, the fact that I’ve been away with [Costa Rica’s] national team. But before that, I went on a streak of scoring in five matches. Not too worried about that, the goals will come.” 

Martínez, who was dealing with a quad injury in late September and early October, downplayed the impact it has been having on his game.

Pascal Jansen didn’t appear too concerned about the trend either, noting both Wolf and Martínez have scored in bunches at different points in the season, especially as the club adjusted to the first-year head coach. 

“You always will have one or two top targets who make your goals in every team. Our team is no different,” Jansen said. “What we are looking for within the rest of the team is, can we score more from set pieces? Can our other wingers have more impact?” 

Jansen also noted the importance of being the first team to score. 

“It will determine a lot how the game flows, how the game dynamics will proceed from that moment on,” he said. “The first goal mentality is something that is part of our strategy in general.”

NYCFC hopes to change history as well Tuesday by recording the club’s first win against Charlotte on the road. They will benefit from the fact that Charlotte will be without star Wilfried Zaha, who is serving a one-game suspension after receiving two yellow cards in the final game of the season.

Despite some injury concerns about Wolf, who did not practice Friday due to “physical issues,” he was not listed on NYCFC’s injury report. A team spokesperson confirmed to The Post that he traveled with the club to Charlotte.