The Cosmos got a deserved win over AV Alta FC on Saturday night, 1-0, thanks in part to new faces in the defense and a goal from a very familiar face, Sebastián Guenzatti.
Going against a team in USL League One playoff position, the Cosmos looked in control for a majority of the match at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey.
The win was the fourth of the season for the Cosmos as they still sit at the bottom of the USL League One table, 17 points off the playoff positions. It also marked goalkeeper Tristan Stephani's first win for the Cosmos and his first-ever professional clean sheet.
It was a different type of performance from the expansion side. Less playing out of the back and more high press, something head coach Davide Corti mentioned after the match. He also mentioned that his group, which had an unexpected bye week after their game against Spokane Velocity FC was postponed due to storms and travel issues, got a different type of training.
"I acted like I've never acted before, so I was like yelling a lot, pointing fingers to what we need to do. I don't know if that's the chemistry that it takes. Usually I'm a person that wants to deal with the players talking, to let them understand what they need to do, but it didn't work before," Corti said after the game.
"I need to get some pills for my heart because I was screaming and yelling. If this is the way that we need to do and give them motivation, I'll keep on doing that."
New York Cosmos: 17 shots, 7 shots on target, 34% possession, 269 passes, 81% pass accuracy, 16 fouls, 5 corners, 2 saves
AV Alta FC: 6 shots, 2 shots on target, 66% possession, 552 passes, 85% pass accuracy, 13 fouls, 2 corners, 6 saves
Goals:
• New York Cosmos, Sebastián Guenzatti, 61'
Attendance: 1,174
Guenzatti comes through
Sebastián Guenzatti once more led the attacking line for the Cosmos, supported by Christian Koffi and Lamin Jawneh on either side. Ajmeer Spengler played his usual role and supported the attack as the most advanced attacking midfielder.
Overall, the home team was the better offensive threat despite being unable to hold onto the ball for a majority of the first half. An early chance by Spengler in the sixth minute set the tone, as a defensive miscue set him up for a saved attempt by AV Alta goalkeeper Denzil Smith. Elsewhere on offense, Jawneh struggled with long balls and passes into the middle, overshooting and going wide on a few attempts.
The visitors were forced into an early substitution when a foul seemingly injured forward Jerry Desdunes, who leads AV Alta in goals and assists this season. His loss, needing to be replaced by Adam Aoumaich in the eighth minute, was a huge blow.
The Cosmos outshot AV Alta, six to two, in the first half, and a defensive error once again gave New York its best chance of the opening 45 minutes. Defender Kaloyan Pehlivanov tried to pass in front of the box in the 33rd minute, but Sebastián Guenzatti jumped in front of midfielder Osvaldo Lay to intercept. Only needing to beat the keeper, Guenzatti's shot was saved, hitting off the top of the post.
The Cosmos continued to apply pressure after the restart and found the breakthrough in the 61st minute, with Guenzatti making up for his earlier missed chance. With his best long pass of the night, Jawneh picked out the Cosmos captain between two defenders, who lifted his right leg for a shot into the back of the net, giving the Cosmos the 1-0 lead.
The goal is Guenzatti's sixth of the regular season, tying him with Spengler for the team lead.
The captain and Cosmos veteran was quick to praise Jawneh for his part in the goal.
"We know he's rapid and we know he's fast, so every time he gets it out wide, we tell him to go one-on-one and take it down the line or cut in," Guenzatti said. "In the first half it wasn't going his way, he tried to whip a few. But then second half, you know, he did an unbelievable cross first post, and I was lucky to be there."
The Cosmos made more subs after this, including Nick Zielonka replacing Jawneh in the 69th minute. The young attacker is still searching for his first goal of the season and had multiple looks to earn it. In the 74th minute, Koffi ran through on the left side into box, but instead of shooting, held up, with the ball played around to Spengler and then Zielonka.
Zielonka's shot looked to be going in, but a diving save by Smith's fingertips kept it out. Another look in the 84th minute with open space in the box saw the former University of Kentucky attacker hold the ball too long before shooting over the crossbar as defense closed in on him.
Rebuilt defensive spine shines
The Cosmos roster being in constant flux means new players getting starts. On Saturday, a majority of the defense was essentially new.
Left-back Stalyn Acosta, who joined the team from amateur affiliate ASC New York, got his first start with the team after signing earlier this month. Defensive midfielder Ozzie Ramos made his second start, while center back Michael Chilaka got his third.
In goal, Tristan Stephani played in his 10th league game and his fifth straight after regaining the starting job from Javier Garcia, acquired earlier this summer from AC Boise.
All of these players came together and held AV Alta to only four shots, despite the visitors holding a majority of the possession, with the Lancaster, California, based club holding 66% of the possession on the night.
"It was tricky, you know, with runs coming from the midfield, through a lot of organization, a lot of hard work, grit," Stephani said. "Had to do it all for 90 minutes."
AV Alta had two decent looks in the first half, including a nice curving shot by Godwin Antwi from the top of the box that sailed over the crossbar. In the second half, the offense stalled out until the last stretch of the match, which forced Stephani into his only two saves of the night.
Ironically, Alta's best chance at equalizing came in the 90th minute off Chilaka. A back-pass header by the defender sailed over the head of Tristani and started rolling toward the goal line. The keeper chased it down, sliding around it just in time to block the equalizer from going in.
Chilaka joked after the match that he was lucky the keeper was there to save him, and even Guenzatti said he froze in place from across the field watching the moment.
"A little bit of miscommunication between me and Chilaka, but at the end of the day, we sorted it out and that's something that a new player will learn, the chemistry," Stephani said. "We'll learn the way we play, and it's just a learning moment."
Chilaka also noted how much the team has been working on chemistry as new players continue to join mid-season.
"We've been practicing the whole week about our chemistry, you know, with the coach. He helped us to understand each other and we just kept talking between our defensive line," he said. "We've got a lot of new players, so we brought a new standard, like new hungriness, I'm gonna say to win more games and believe in ourselves, and we just keep working hard every week, you know, the season is not over until it's over."
Shamit Shome hype
Shamit Shome was not on field or available off the bench, but the most recent Cosmos signing was still making waves. The Canadian-Bangladeshi midfielder is still awaiting clearance of his visa before he can make his official debut with the team.
Michael Battista
The hype is still real. Some of the 1,174 spectators were seen arriving at the stadium wearing Bangladesh national team jerseys ahead of Saturday's game. It's still not even known how he will fully integrate into the XI. Right now, the central midfield position just added Ozzie Ramos, who has already assimilated himself well into the group.
Darren Sidoel is still trying to get back into form after a hip injury that kept him sidelined or not starting throughout much of the year, though he did get a brief run-out on Saturday, joining the fray in the 89th minute. There's also younger players like Nick Mendonca and other recent signing Frankie Ljucovic in the mix.
Corti was asked about his signing and what it means for the club going forward.
"I guess that that's, tells a lot on where we wanna go," he said. "He's a player with a lot of experience in different leagues, higher-level national teams. This week he trained with us a couple of times, and you can see that probably he brought benefits to the entire group. I'm just waiting for him to be cleared, but I'm happy that he's here like moving forward as one of the best players that we have in the group so far."
Shome may or may not have his paperwork sorted out when the Cosmos next play, as they travel deep into the heart of Texas to face Corpus Christi FC on Wednesday, August 19 with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 pm ET at Cabaniss Athletic Complex.
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