(NASL 2013 Fall) New York Cosmos 2v1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Saturday 3rd August 2013
Hofstra University, New York   Attendance -  11,929

A sell out crowd saw the rebirth of the New York Cosmos in the NASL, and substitute Noselli provided a last gasp winner against Fort Lauderdale to send the home fans happy. Pele and Carlos Alberto were paraded before the game, but the game did not live up to the spectacle before the game as both sides struggled to create clear cut chances.

Cosmos had the better of the 1st half, and Strikers Keeper Sanchez was called into action to smother a loose ball following a goalmouth scramble, before Senna showed a glimpse of his quality with a fantastic volley as a Fort Lauderdale clearance was returned with gusto, but again Sanchez was on hand to deny the home side.

Inbetween those efforts Restrepo had a sight of goal for the visitors, but his effort went wide of the target.

 Despite dominating possession, the Strikers were defending in numbers and proving difficult for the Cosmos to break down, but took the lead just before half time when Marosevic hooked home a loose ball from close range after Fort Lauderdale failed to clear a corner.

The goal failed to liven up a disappointing contest, although Fort Lauderdale improved in the 2nd half, both teams lacked the ability to unlock their opponents defence.

Strikers did have a penalty claim turned down following what looked like a shove in the back, but were lucky to remain only a goal behind when substitute Noselli provided a rare moment of quality in the opponents area as he spun away from Gordon, only for Sanchez to save his side again.

As the game wore on it seemed as though Marosevic's strike would be enough to earn Cosmos victory, but inevitably, if there was to be a goal it would be as a result of a defensive mistake, and Fort Lauderdale's Restrepo was the beneficiary on 73mins.

There seemed little danger from a long punt upfield, but the Cosmos defensive header was poor and Restrepo nodded past Reynish to level the scores.

 Cosmos seemed unable to raise their game to mount a late rally, and as the game moved into stoppage time it seemed like Fort Lauderdale were to deny Cosmos a win on their return to the NASL.

But in a similar fashion to the equaliser the visitors gifted the Cosmos a winner when Noselli intercepted an ill advised defensive header back to his own keeper, and guided the ball past Sanchez to the delight of the New York crowd.