Cosmos break even against Indy in Brooklyn

If you missed last night’s Cosmos match, you missed out on one of the most straight up fun matches New York has played this year. Although it was disappointing that the Cosmos could not get three points, the match was a hell of a ride.

Indy started this game red hot. One a night where the Cosmos were honoring one of their own legends in Marcos Senna, Gerardo Torrado, one of the best to ever do it for Mexico, crashed the party with two early goals in the span of five minutes. Although they went down early, the Cosmos did not lose their composure. New York got back into the match. A creative set piece which culminated in Andres Flores finding a soaring Dejan Jakovic at the far post got the New York Originals on the board before halftime.

Ever since New York scored, they looked destined to find an equalizer. In the fiftieth minute, the Cosmos were finally able to tie things up when Pablo Vranjican poached the rebound of Andres Flores’ crossbar challenge winner. However, the stalemate didn’t last long as a signature Indy counter left the Cosmos’ defense exposed. Eamon Zayed got the best of Jakovic in a one-on-one, putting the Canadian centre back on skates before giving his team the lead. New York spent the rest of the game pressing Indy Eleven hoping to get that chance at another equalizer. Substitute Juan Guerra was able off a corner kick to secure at least a point for the Cosmos, but it was clear the home team wanted more.

The Cosmos spend the remainder of the match with their feet on Indy’s neck, throwing the kitchen sink in an effort to get three points. And boy did they came close. In the Cosmos’ whopping 36 shots, there were a myriad of crossbars, close calls and big saves by Jon Busch. The Cosmos were unluckily not awarded a penalty on Juan Guerra during extra time as well before the affair ended in a tie.

Ultimately, New York played really well to salvage a point in this one. Although it’s disappointing that they went down big so early, and it’s easy to feel like they should have won this one, the Cosmos showed a lot of grit by playing so strongly after the early deficit. The crowd tonight was also one of the most loudest and engaged audiences since New York moved to Brooklyn. Fun, high scoring matches like this will definitely get casual fans to come back. Ultimately, the team put in a performance worthy of the presence of Marcos Senna.

New York will be back at it again next saturday against North Carolina.