On Saturday, Miami FC kept their winning streak alive with a home win over the New York Cosmos, the Indy Eleven captured their second straight win on the road against North Carolina FC, and the San Francisco Deltas stayed unbeaten on the road with a win against FC Edmonton.
Only three games were played in Week 13, as due to weather issues, Jacksonville Armada FC will play at home against Puerto Rico FC on Monday night. All the same, there was a lot of action over the weekend.
Here’s a closer look at the action from Week 13:
Miami FC 2-1 New York Cosmos
Miami has been unstoppable this season, and their match against the New York Cosmos was shaping up to be a good test of their talent. Miami passed that test with flying colors as they look towards their U.S. Open Cup date with Atlanta United on Wednesday.
Vincenzo Rennella and Stefano Pinho starred for Miami on the night, with both forwards having found their form as of late. Central midfielder Richie Ryan also had a good night, assisting on both of Miami’s goals. Rennella has been marvelous for Miami this season, scoring eight goals and assisting on four in 13 matches. He has been a sparkplug for the team and will play a big role in their match on Wednesday.
The Cosmos were not without their dangerous chances as well. Emmanuel Ledesma gave the Cosmos an early lead by opening the scoring in the sixth minute. Undefeated on the road prior to this match, the Cosmos were in the driver’s seat early on. Unfortunately, an unlucky deflection and some poor set-piece defending saw the Cosmos surrender their lead and never recover.
Indy Eleven 2-1 North Carolina FC
For the second time in two weeks, North Carolina FC and the Indy Eleven faced off against each other in league play, and for the second time in two weeks the Eleven came out on top.
The game started off quickly, with North Carolina FC midfielder Tiyi Shipalane netting his third goal of the season in the ninth minute. The Eleven answered back with two more goals in the first half from Justin Braun and Eamon Zayed, and the 2-1 score line at halftime ultimately decided the game.
The lead could have been even larger, if not for a missed penalty by Zayed in the second half. All the same, the Indy Eleven will be thrilled to have strung positive results together at an important time in the season, and as long as Braun keeps producing this team can be very dangerous.
San Francisco Deltas 1-0 FC Edmonton
The script was the same as it has been all season for the San Francisco Deltas on Saturday night, as they showed grit on the road and came away with three points.
The San Francisco Deltas and FC Edmonton played last weekend to the same score line in favor of Californian side, the goal in the game coming from a penalty. While Edmonton has struggled this season, the Deltas’ attacking suite has absent as of late as well.
A fortunate own goal by FC Edmonton defender Shawn Nicklaw in the seventh minute saw the Deltas take the lead, but having not scored a goal in open play in 180 minutes, concerns persist around the team’s inability to put balls in the back of the net.
For the Eddies, Sainey Nyassi looked his usual self – dangerous, yet not clinical around goal. For the San Francisco Deltas, Kyle Bekker shuttled the ball well, controlling play and tempo, but was ultimately not able to produce a goal.