Indy Eleven and New York Cosmos play to a sixth consecutive draw
Since the Eleven have come into existence the Indianapolis based club has played the New York Cosmos on five occasions. In every game between these two NASL foes the Eleven and Cosmos have tied in all five matches. In three of these five games the match has ended with a score line of 1-1. The sixth instalment on Saturday night was no different than before as both teams had to settle for yet another 1-1 stalemate. For someone only looking at the score line a 1-1 draw may not move the interest meter. But fans of both teams know there are always dramatic goals and cards in this fixture.
The Cosmos came out in their custom 4-4-2 with Lucky Mkosana playing the traditional center forward position and former Real Madrid star, Raúl, playing behind Mkosana in the number 10 role. Roversio missed this contest for the Cosmos with an injury while Marcos Senna did not travel because of visa issues. After injuries plagued the Eleven in their away game against Ottawa, Indy went back to their 4-4-2 with a diamond in the midfield formation. Greg Janicki started in place of Corey Miller who was out with a red card suspension. Brad Ring was back in the starting line-up after missing the Ottawa game with an injury.
The Cosmos tried to take an early lead in the 16th minute with a give-and-go at the top of the eighteen yard box had Raúl with space to convert the shot easily. But Raúl’s chip sailed over the crossbar. Then in the 26th minute Lucky Mkosana headed the ball down to a wide open Daniel Szetela whose volley missed high. The game saw its first turning point in first half injury time as both teams found the back of the net. The Cosmos scored first as Walter Restrepo and Raúl played a give-and-go, causing the Eleven’s defense to split and resulted in Restrepo firing the ball past Eleven’s keeper, Kristian Nicht for the goal. One minute later, Dragan Stojkov played a long ball to Dylan Mares who was able to control the ball with his chest and beat Cosmos keeper, Jimmy Maurer to level the score at the halfway mark.
In the 65th minute the game took another dramatic turn as Eleven defender Erick Norales head butted Cosmos forward Sebastian Guenzatti who had just came into the game four minutes earlier. Guenzatti reacted and both he and Norales saw automatic red. This forced the Cosmos to play in a 3-4-2 formation. New York elected to take out defender and captain Carlos Mendes to allow teenager phenom, Haji Wright to make his league debut at the striker position. The Eleven played in a 4-1-3-1 formation. With Norales out, Dragan Stojkov had to cover as a defender until being substituted for Don Smart who also had to play out of position. Daniel Keller took Brad Ring’s position as the defensive midfielder for the Eleven.
The Cosmos had three chances to take 3 points in the second half. The first came five minutes before red cards where shown as Restrepo controlled a long ball and danced with it before shooting directly at Nicht. As the ball deflected off of Nicht, Mksona had an opportunity to put back the rebound only for Eleven defender Marco Franco to block the shot. The second opportunity came in the 79th minute when a long ball forced Nicht off his line as Wright and Franco chased down the ball. Wright was able to slide the ball underneath Nicht as all three players collided but Wright was called for a foul for pushing Franco in the back. The collision saw Nicht severely injure his left shoulder and head coach Tim Regan asked his bench who would be a suitable goalkeeper as the Eleven had already used all three substitutions. Fortunately for the Eleven, Nicht was able to play the rest of the game. In the 82 minute, Mejia slipped a through ball to an open Raúl who found the back of the net but was flagged for being in an offside position.
Lineups/Substitutions:
NYC: GK, Maurer; CB, Mendes (C) (Wright 69’); CB, Caceres; RB, Gorskie; LB, Ayoze; CM, Szetela; CM, Moffat (Flores Mejia 66’); RM, Restrepo; LM, Diosa; F, Raul; F, Mkosanam ( Guenzatti 61’)
IND: GK, Nicht; CB, Norales (C); CB, Janicki; RB, Franco; LB, Hyland; CM, Ring; CM, Mares; RM, Stojkov (Keller 78’); LM, Pineda; F, Brown; F, Richards (Smart 72’).
Scoring Summary:
Restrepo (Cosmos) 45’
Mares (Eleven) 45’
Stats:
Shots off target:
Cosmos: 2
Eleven: 6
Shots on target:
Cosmos: 5
Eleven: 4
Corners:
Cosmos: 4
Eleven: 6
Possession:
Cosmos: 52%
Eleven: 48%
Discipline:
IND: Stojkov (Yellow) 34’
NYC: Ayoze (Yellow) 36’
NYC: Diosa (Yellow) 45’
NYC: Mendes (Yellow) 52’
IND: Norales (Yellow) 65’
NYC: Guenzatti (Red) 65’
NYC: Szetela (yellow) 90’
Indy Eleven will continue their home stand as the Atlanta Silverbacks come to Indianapolis on Saturday. As for the Cosmos, they return home for the first time in two weeks to host the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Sunday.
