The New York Cosmos have made a habit of scoring late, but on Saturday, things got a little ridiculous. After falling behind by three goals, the boys in green stormed back to earn a draw, and nearly managed to come away with three points.
Things got off to a rough start early, as the Strikers were awarded a penalty following a trip in the box from Walter Restrepo. While the call was on the softer side, it was probably fair, and Gabriel just beat Jimmy Maurer to give the Strikers the lead, which they'd hold going into the halftime break.
The second 45 minutes got underway with a second Strikers' penalty, this one, however, was ridiculous. A dive in the box was incorrectly ruled to be a foul on Ayoze, and Walter Ramirez banged the ensuing spot kick in off of the post to double the Strikers' lead. Ramirez wasn't done, however, as he'd barge Adam Moffat to the ground at the hour mark, before rounding Jimmy Maurer to make it 3-0, seemingly dooming the Cosmos in the process.
Three minutes later, the Cosmos finally got on the board, as Leo Fernandes headed home to give Gio Savarese's side some life. Adam Moffat made things interesting in the 66th minute when he found the back of the net with a beautiful curling shot, something he was known for during his time in MLS.
The final 25 minutes of the match saw the Cosmos pressing for an equalizer, and they finally got it in stoppage time. Substitute Sebastian Guenzatti made it 3-3, and the boys in green even had a chance at a winner which was correctly ruled out as offside.
While it wasn't the result most Cosmos fans would have hoped for, earning a point after that disastrous start was certainly more than I expected. That's seven points from three matches this week, an acceptable total, no matter how you look at it.