Lucky Mkosana calmly slotted home a shot in the 14th minute to give the first-place New York Cosmos (3-2-0) a 1-0 victory over Ottawa Fury FC (1-1-3) at MCU Park in Brooklyn on May 2.
“He’s been practicing very well,” said head coach Giovanni Savarese of Mkosana after the match. “I thought he had also a good game against Atlanta. Tonight he found a lot of spaces. He was strong and he was clinical. He also helped out defensively. He worked very hard and he had a good game.”
This was the Cosmos’ first ever match in Brooklyn and their third win of the season.
“First of all, I thought it was an exciting night to play in Brooklyn.” Savarese said. “It was an interesting setup with all that stuff going on. I thought we had a very, very good first half. Unfortunately, we couldn’t show it a little bit more with the score.”
Mkosana was played in on goal with a curved pass from the left wing by midfielder Leo Fernandes. Mkosana, who was named Emirates Cosmos Man of the Match, exhibited fantastic control with his first touch to set himself up for a quick finish as Fury goalkeeper Romuald Peiser came rushing in. His goal would be the only one the Cosmos needed; their defense held for its fourth shutout in five Spring Season matches.
“It was a great ball from Leo,” Mkosana said after the match. “All the credit to him. He said he saw me make a run and he just put in a really good ball.”
The Cosmos looked to have added an insurance goal in the 85th minute as forward Raúl got behind the defense and played a cross to a wide open Walter Restrepo, who finished into the open net. The goal was subsequently called back by the referee, who ruled Restrepo offside.
The Cosmos dominated the first half and had a handful of close chances against a stretched Fury team. Saturday night’s contest was the fifth match in two weeks for the Fury.
“For us, we need to impose when we play at home,” Savarese said. “We pressured high. We tried to make sure that they didn’t come out; that they had a lot of trouble. We did it in the first half and then when we had the ball, we were able to find spaces and were able to keep the ball. We created a lot of interesting chances.
“In the second half we tried to do the same thing, but we knew that they were going to come up strong. I think some of the players that came on in the second half for them were good players who created some difficulty for us, but I’m just glad that we kept the [shutout]. There was a very good save by [Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy] Maurer that was very important in the match. Winning this game was important for us.”
Maurer, named NASL Player of the Month for April, added another shutout to his impressive Spring Season streak.
The Cosmos, who remain unbeaten with the win, return to Long Island to face FC Edmonton on May 10. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.
