Marcos Senna scored from the penalty spot in the second half, but the New York Cosmos were unable to overcome a two-goal halftime deficit and dropped a 2-1 decision to FC Edmonton in a North American Soccer League Fall Season showdown Sunday afternoon at Clarke Field.
Lance Laing and Daryl Fordyce struck two minutes apart late in the first half to lead FC Edmonton (7-4-4), which moved into third place in the Fall Season table. The Cosmos (6-5-4) are level with Minnesota United FC and two points behind Ottawa Fury FC in the Combined Standings.
“We did a lot of very good things in the second half, but we cannot have distractions like we had in those few minutes toward the end of the first half, allowing them to score those two goals and making us change the game again,” Cosmos head coach Giovanni Savarese said.
Laing broke the stalemate in the 41st minute when he ran at the Cosmos defense and was freed toward goal on a lucky deflection off Jimmy Mulligan. The Jamaican forward powered into the box and put his low shot inside the far post from 14 yards out.
Fordyce followed with his sixth goal of the season as Dustin Corea cut inside of David Diosa and played Fordyce in on goal. The forward from Northern Ireland took a touch and finished past Cosmos goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck to double the Eddies lead.
“I think the problem was mostly about not keeping the line together,” Savarese said. “If we step forward, we need to step together. We do some good things going forward, but they get the better of us when we leave some areas open.”
Senna cut the Cosmos deficit in half from the penalty spot after Albert Watson handled a Danny Szetela shot in the box following a Walter Restrepo corner.
The Spanish legend stepped up and struck the ball to the left of FC Edmonton goalkeeper Matt VanOekel in the 58th minute.
The Cosmos return to Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium next Sunday, October 4 at 5 p.m. to take on the Atlanta Silverbacks.
