Hannes Wolf played a starring role as New York City FC moved up to fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 4-0 victory over struggling Atlanta United. 

Wolf grabbed the assist for Maxi Moralez's opener a minute before half-time before netting a brace in two second-half minutes to seal a comfortable win at Yankee Stadium. 

Despite NYCFC starting strong, it was Atlanta who had the best chance to take the lead through Aleksey Miranchuk, with his strike from distance rattling the crossbar. 

Derrick Williams then met a corner with a strong header, and visiting forward Jamal Thiare turned the ball over the line, only to see the goal ruled out for offside.

And having survived a wave of Atlanta pressure, Pascal Jansen's side got themselves ahead in the 44th minute when Moralez squeezed an effort in at Brad Guzan's near post. 

After the break, three goals in four minutes ensured the victory for NYCFC, with Mounsef Bakrar kickstarting the flurry with a curling first-time finish into the roof of the net. 

Wolf then notched the Pigeons' third with a perfectly-placed strike into the bottom-right corner before grabbing his second with a dinked finish over the on-rushing Guzan.

Data Debrief: Three is the magic number

City's emphatic display saw them register the biggest win of Jansen's tenure, with the victory inspired by those quickfire goals early in the second half.

Indeed, with goals from Bakrar (55th minute) and Wolf (57th and 59th minute), NYCFC scored three goals in a five-minute span for the first time in club history and just the 11th time in a single half in league history. 

And though two-goal hero Wolf will receive many of the plaudits, Moralez also played his part in the win. He ended the contest with team-high totals for chances created (three), touches (94), passes in the final third (23) and final third entries (11).