NY Cosmos defeated Miami FC
New York Cosmos defeated Miami FC, 3-0, at FIU Park Saturday night, the New York Cosmos were atop the North American Soccer League spring season standings.
“It’s where we want to be. We’re back on top, but this is a week to week situation and we have to
keep on working,” Cosmos Head Coach Giovanni Savarese said. “We can be content with this victory, but it has to be in our core, in our efforts to continue this way.”
The Cosmos (4-0-2) are level with the Carolina RailHawks with 12 points from six matches, but move ahead on goal differential, the first tiebreaker. Miami FC (0-2-4) remains at the bottom of the
table with two points from six matches.
“I feel very content with the effort of the team today, and we want to continue to have this type of mentality,” Savarese said. “What I was happy about was the patience the team had in order to move the ball around and find the right moments to go forward. I think it was a positive match for sure.”
The Cosmos took a deserved lead in the 18th minute when Juan Arango latched onto Hunter Freeman’s cross and headed it past Miami FC goalkeeper, Mario Daniel Vega, from the edge of the six-yard box for his team-leading third goal of the season.
“Juan had a great header,” Savarese said. “He came free and found an excellent ball by Freeman
and he was able to connect perfectly to score our first goal. It was a set play and it ended up working out.” In the 34th minute, Gabriel Farfán scored his first goal in a Cosmos uniform, settling a headed clearance by Miami’s Jonathan Borrajo and putting a shot from 15 yards out to double the Cosmos advantage. “It was a positive thing for him to score the goal, and I think overall he had very good matches these past two games,” Savarese said.
Five minutes into the second half, a long through ball by Ayoze sent Arrieta behind the Miami FC defense. Arrieta took a touch and then slotted the ball into the net from the edge of the 18-yard box to give the Cosmos a 3-0 lead.
“At that point, 3-0, it was an important moment because we could move the ball a little bit better in order to possess and maintain the game in our favor,” Savarese said. “The guys did a fantastic job to maintain the advantage.”
The Cosmos also limited Dario Cvitanich, one of the NASL’s leading scorers, to one half-chance in
the second half. “We studied the way he moves and talked to the guys and made sure we were always aware of his movements,” Savarese said. “He’s very clever and astute to find good areas. We did a good job in communicating and always put him in a difficult situation.” In the end, the Cosmos had their first road win of the season, second straight victory and return home atop the league.
“I think we did a lot of positive things,” Savarese said. “I think the team had a good match. We can still grow, we can still do better things. But I think that we were smart today, moved the ball
around, and found good situations going forward, as well as showed defensive strength.”
