Wednesday night, the Cosmos earned a second straight win by beating fellow USL League One expansion side Corpus Christi FC, 2-0, on the road in Texas.
Goals from Lamin Jawneh and Ajmeer Spengler made the difference, with Spangler retaking his team goal scoring lead by scoring his seventh of the season.
It was the fifth win of the season for the Cosmos, and this marks the second time the team has won two games in a row this year. Unlike those games, though, the Cosmos won both of their last two games with a clean sheet, both thanks to the work of goalkeeper Tristan Stephani. The win in Texas was also the first time the team has won a game by multiple goals since March 28 against Fort Wayne FC.
Now, the team is going to try and do something it hasn't done since October 2016: Win three in a row. That means beating Chattanooga Red Wolves SC on Saturday night on the road, a team currently sitting in eighth place in the League One table.
So what is working? The flurry of mid-season transfers is part of it, but some players there since the season's start seem to have found something, a consistency or a better connection to the players around them.
Lamin Jawneh improving
When he was first teased as a signing by the Cosmos, I criticized Lamin Jawneh for being a forward who couldn't score goals. I repeated that when he was signed on May 14.
Over the last few games, he's played remarkably better.
In the 25th minute against Corpus Christi, Frankie Ljucovic fed Jawneh on the right side of the field. Usually at this point, the winger would send the ball into the box. Instead he created space around a defender, working back to the top-right corner of the box. The Gambian attacker hit a left-footed shot from 18 yards out, bending it from outside the box past Corpus Christi keeper James Talbot.
This followed last week, when Jawneh set up Sebastián Guenzatti for the winning goal against AV Alta FC. The attacker seems to be both finding that chemistry with his teammates and improving his own play.
Jawneh had another chance in the 45th minute, but Talbot came off his line to thwart the opportunity. He's still not perfect, no player is, and Jawneh still works long crosses far past his teammates in the box with uncomfortable levels of consistency. On Wednesday, though, he finished the match 20-for-22 in passing (91%) and completed his one attempted long ball, according to FotMob's statistics.
Defense holds out
New York made a change in defense on Wednesday, replacing Massimo Morabito at right-back with the returning Néstor Cabrera. Cabrera, a Rutgers University alumnus and Guatemala national team player, slotted in well alongside Michael Chilaka, Andersson Holt, and Stalyn Acosta, up until he departed in the 66th minute.
Overall, the Cosmos held back the Sharks, especially in the second half, despite the visitors being under constant pressure. In total, the home side was able to attempt 18 shots, though with only six on target. Of the 11 shots taken in the second half, six required saves from Stephani. That included a a close range effort by Patty Langlois in the 65th that could have spelled disaster for the Cosmos.
The defense, and in this case the midfield, seemed way too lax in allowing Corpus Christi the ability to find space in the middle of the box. Six of Corpus Christi's second half attempts came from essentially the penalty spot. This only started to change after Spengler doubled the Cosmos lead, and when Darren Sidoel entered as a substitute in the 78th minute. From there, the Texas side could only manage long shots from outside the center of the box.
Two straight clean sheets for a Cosmos team that couldn't stop letting in goals is an improvement. However, it seems like Chilaka and Holt were under constant pressure from balls played through the midfield. The fact that three shots were blocked by them is a plus, but they'll need to work on denying more entry passes to decrease the number of chances faced by their goalkeeper.
Decisions to make with 11 to play
With 11 games to go in the USL League One regular season, the Cosmos are still 17 points out of playoff position. It would take a miracle to consider them contenders.
The terms of the mid-year contracts signed by Shamit Shome (who has not yet debuted), Ozzie Ramos, Ljucovic, and Jawneh are unknown. Acosta, meanwhile, is signed through the end of the year, according to a source, which could just be the case for a young player signed from the Cosmos' amateur affiliate.
Michael Battista
It also wouldn't be a surprise if the Cosmos are more set on finishing out this chaotic inaugural season so they can focus on 2027. That could involve deciding if head coach Davide Corti is equipped to stay with this team, after he has seemingly altered his own coaching methods with the team in the latter half of the season. It's also about deciding which players are worth keeping, or if a run on new signings from the local colleges or MLS Next Pro teams is worth it.
For now, the objective seems to be: Improve. Get out of the Wooden Spoon zone of the standings and see what can be done with the players you have. It's looked better in back-to-back wins, but more evaluations are to come over the season's final 11 matches.
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