What can I say? Three wins and a draw in their last 4 matches, and three of those results against
teams in the Top 4. In the most emphatic way, the Canberra Cosmos have shown that they
are a team to be worried about. No one is safe!
The scoreline may just flatter the locals a bit, but really, they put their chances away
whilst Morwell frittered away any they had, and there were a few, including three clear
cut chances in the first 20 minutes that could have turned the whole match.
In the 10th minute, Marko Perinovic connected with a long cross and placed a beautiful header
over the keeper and into the back of the net. This was the Cosmos' first real attack. Then in
their next foray forward 10 minutes later, a long throw from Musitano went over the keeper,
who mis-judged the flight of the ball. Lachlan Armstrong was on hand to angle the ball in
for the second goal.
The game finally started to settle down, and memories of Wollongong were coming back where we
were 2-0 up early and had to settle with a 2-2 draw. The Falcons were strangely enough getting
a little ascendancy in the central midfield, but there was no way through the last lines of
defence and their two main strikers Spink and Bothwell were both being shadowed throughout.
In the last 15 minutes of the first half, Canberra applied an enormous amount of pressure,
with numerous chances just missing or the players just not connecting. With 3 minutes to go,
Armstrong was again on hand when he put away a ball on the edge of the six-yard box after
a free kick was not cleared. Unfortunately for Lachlan, he injured himself a few minutes later
and had to be substituted.
Morwell came out in the second half fighting. In the first 30 minutes it was all the Falcons
except for one chance for the Cosmos that floated wide. Cosmos were playing for a good
counter-attack, and in the 34th minute a ball was laid back to Michael Musitano whilst still
in the penalty area. Michael had a free shot and the crowd knew there could only be one
outcome - goal. Within a minute, the ball was again down in the penalty area of Morwell and
Musitano cheekly chipped the ball over a defender for Paul Wade to bring under control and easily
tap in his sixth goal of the season.
In the dying minutes there were three more chances. A close shot by Morwell went straight to
Mautone, a corner for the Cosmos was just cleared off the line and after a long throw was
headed on, it bounced just out of the reach of a stretching Perinovic.
Man of the Match was Michael Musitano and I can't say too much about this player and how
he is playing at the moment. The 5-0 scoreline will easily stand as the best for some time to
come, but it was another win and means that the Cosmos are still very close to the Top 6.
Next up it's a bus trip to Sydney United, who must be shaking in their boots!