SAN ANTONIO, TX — The Tampa Bay Rowdies suffered their first defeat of the season Saturday night, falling 2-0 to the New York Cosmos in the Cosmos’ home opener at James M. Shuart Stadium.
Marcos Senna helped the hosts to an early lead with a successful penalty kick in the 11th minute. New York’s Leo Fernandes doubled the lead just three minutes into the second half on a cross by Walter Restrepo.
Tampa Bay didn’t play well in the first half, thanks in part to the early New York goal. The Cosmos played a dangerous cross in from the right wing, which was cleared by the Rowdies defense, but the referee adjudged Rowdies right back Darnell King to have committed a handball and awarded New York a penalty kick.
Senna stutter stepped and shot to the right side of goal, beating Rowdies goalkeeper Kamil Contofalsky, who dove the opposite direction. It was Senna’s first goal of the season.
The rest of the half was a struggle for the Rowdies, who were outplayed by the Cosmos in front of a sellout crowd in Raul’s home debut.
The second half didn’t start well for Tampa Bay, with Senna winning a 50-50 challenge against Rowdies left back Ben Sweat and racing toward goal in space and finding Restrepo. The Rowdies defense over-pursued the ball, following it all the way to the byline and leaving plenty of space near the penalty spot for Restrepo to cross to Fernandes to finish for the 2-0 lead.
Tampa Bay played itself into the match after going down 2-0, but couldn’t find the finishing touch for a goal despite a few scoring chances.
In the 59th minute, King played a cross in from the right side to a couple of waiting Rowdies. Georgi Hristov took a shot, but lifted it over the crossbar.
Second-half substitute Darwin Espinal made a positive impact on the match, racing to the byline in the 71st minute. He beat his defender with the ball and turned toward goal before passing to Hristov, who was just wide of target with his shot.
Martin Nunez fired a first-time shot on goal in the 81st minute, but Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer, who was not tested much on the night, made the save to preserve his clean sheet.
Next week, the Rowdies return home for their first Coastal Cup match of the season, welcoming Jacksonville Armada FC to Al Lang Stadium for the first time on Saturday night, April 25. Kickoff of that match is set for 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call (727)-222-2000 or click here.
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Scoring Summary
New York: Marcos Senna - 11th minute (Penalty Kick)
New York: Leo Fernandes - 48th minute (Assisted by Walter Restrepo
Caution Summary
New York: Leo Fernandes - 17th minute
New York: Hunter Gorskie - 28th minute
Tampa Bay: Juan Guerra - 29th minute
Tampa Bay: Tamika Mkandawire - 37th minute
Tampa Bay: Georgi Hristov - 64th minute
Tampa Bay: Maicon Santos - 70th minute
Tampa Bay: Stefan Antonijevic - 74th minute
Starting Lineups
Rowdies XI (4-3-3): GK Kamil Čontofalský; D Darnell King, Tamika Mkandawire, Stefan Antonijevic, Ben Sweat; M Juan Guerra (Martin Nuñez 58'), Verneri Välimaa, Georgi Hristov; F Robert Hernandez (Zak Boggs 86'), Maicon Santos, Corey Hertzog (Darwin Espinal 58')
New York Cosmos XI: GK Jimmy Maurer; D Hunter Gorskie, Roversio, Carlos Mendes (c), Ayoze; M Marcos Senna, Danny Szetela; M Walter Restrepo, Raúl (Lucky Mkosana 90'), Leo Fernandes (Adam Moffat 86'); F Mads Stokkelien (Sebastian Guenzatti 77')
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