(NASL 2015 Fall) New York Cosmos 2v0 Tampa Bay Rowdies

Saturday 31st October 2015
Hofstra University, New York   Attendance -  5,171

Ottawa’s draw in Atlanta, Cosmos were handed an opportunity to clinch first seed in the playoffs, which required New York to beat rivals Tampa Bay by 2 goals. It was a chance that Cosmos seized with both hands as goals from Raul and Guenzatti earned the home side a 2v0 win, The win ultimately ended Tampa Bay hopes of joining New York in the playoffs, with Cosmos set to meet Fort Lauderdale in a bid to reach their 2nd Soccerbowl in the reboot era.

The first half was a Halloween horror show for Sebastian Guenzatti who wasted enough chances to clinch first seed for the Cosmos in the first half alone. The midfielder wasted a chance in the 19th minute when his shot went horribly wide after good work by Restrepo down the right wing and 10mins later Matt Pickens denied Guenzatti when put through on goal.

But Guenzatti had his best chance in the 31st minute when a clever chipped free kick found Guenzatti all alone in front of goal, only for the Cosmos player to get his volley all wrong and blast well over.

Just before half time and Guenzatti again wasted a golden chance to put Cosmos ahead. The ball fell to Guenzatti on the edge of the area from a Matt Pickens punch, but with Pickens scrambling to get to his feet, Guenzatti’s effort clipped the outside of the post for a Rowdies goal kick.

Early in the 2nd half Pickens pulled off a fantastic double save to deny first a Cellerino header from close range and then the follow up from Restrepo as the Rowdies keeper continued to frustrate the home side.

But Cosmos were not to be denied as Raul provided the breakthrough in the 54th minute. After being found by a Bover pass, Raul set himself up with an exquisite touch and fired the ball through the legs of Pickens and into the net. Having finally got the opening goal it took just 4mins to get the goal that clinched first seed in the playoffs.

Restrepo laid the ball off to Guenzatti who finally found the net to make it 2v0 to the Cosmos. There was never any chance of a response from the Rowdies, with the Cosmos not allowing Tampa any time on the ball and the Rowdies failed to muster a single shot on target all game.