The New York Cosmos lost to Minnesota United FC 1-0 at the National Sports Center Saturday night. There was a lot Cosmos Head Coach Giovanni Savarese liked about the way his team played, despite conceding a late goal.
“We controlled the ball and didn’t concede that many chances,” Savarese said. “I think we had [the better of] a lot of the play, but unfortunately that was not enough. I think the score at the end doesn’t reflect the match that we played. We did many good things today but at the end, what matters is the score.”
Making his first Cosmos start, Gabriel Farfán created his own space in the 24th minute, cutting the ball back to his left foot. But the midfielder on loan from Chiapas put his attempt over the crossbar.
“I thought Gabriel played a good match,” Savarese said. “He did exactly what we asked him to do.”
In the 31st minute, Cosmos midfielder Juan Arango had a dangerous free kick, but he curled his shot from 24 yards out wide of the near post. Three minutes later, the Venezuelan rolled his shot just inside the 18-yard box wide of the far post.
Minnesota United was reduced to 10 men in the 53rd minute when defender Damion Lowe was shown a red card for a tackle from behind on Michael Lahoud at midfield.
“You have to give them credit because they were able to be compact in the back and play very well going forward,” Savarese said. “They have some players who have speed, and they were very clever.”
The Cosmos kept trying to break the tie through blasts from distance from Hunter Freeman and Niko Kranjčar, among others, but Minnesota goalkeeper Sammy Ndjock contained the visitors’ attempts throughout the match.
With only a few minutes on the clock, on a quick counter after Arango was ruled offside, United striker Christian Ramirez latched onto a ball from the left by Justin Davis. The forward slotted a low shot past Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer with his second touch to send the Cosmos to their second loss of the NASL Spring Season. The goal awarded the Loons their first win against New York in nine tries.
The Cosmos (2-0-2) will host the undefeated Carolina RailHawks Sunday, May 1 at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
