The Cosmos ended their preseason tour of the Dominican Republic with a 5-1 victory over the Dominican Republic National team. The Cosmos were able to match the physicality of the home team and looked comfortable sans a few defensive mistakes.

In the first half, the Cosmos looked strong on the left flank. Jimmy Mulligan and Walter Restrepo gave the Dominicans problems. The pair ran all over the left side as Javi Marquez covered and created from the left back position, covering for Mulligan. Early in the half, Mulligan appeared to draw a handball, and Restrepo appeared to be through on net, but neither player got the call they wanted. However, a tug on the shirt of trialist Eugene Starikov led to a penalty coolly converted by Javi Marquez. Emmanuel Ledesma doubled the lead with a scissor kick, which may have taken a deflection, but found the back of the net nevertheless.

The Dominican Republic was able to get back into the game as a sloppy backpass from Menjivar led to Luis Espinal opening the scoring for his side. It looks like the DR could get back into the game as the Cosmos defense started the second half slow, but two back to back goals for Irvin Herrera led to the Cosmos running away with the game. New signing Amuari looked off the pace initially, but found his stride and played in Andrea Mancini who’s cheeky chip led to a fifth Cosmos goal.

Man of the Match

Our fans on Twitter voted the Man of the Match to go to Irvin Herrera for his brace. Starikov also received lots of love for his strong first half showing.

Overall, the Cosmos put out a strong showing to finish the Dominican preseason tour. The new unit played with an unexpected physicality and looked comfortable in possession. Trialists Espinal and Starikov really made strong cases for signing with the team full-time. Walter Restrepo and Javi Marquez also impressed. The Cosmos will return back to Brooklyn this coming week.