Fury FC and Memphis 901 Battle to a 0-0 Draw Under the Rain
June 15, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release
OTTAWA - Unbeaten in almost two months, Ottawa Fury FC hosted USL Championship expansion club Memphis 901 FC on Saturday under the lights at TD Place. After a full 90 minutes, half of it under the rain, Fury FC was the more dominant team in all facets of the game but was just unable to capitalize and had to settle for a single point in a 0-0 draw.
STORYLINES
Fury FC is now unbeaten in its last 8 matches, chasing a franchise record of 12 consecutive games without a loss established in 2015 (May-August).
Callum Irving collected a 4th clean sheet this season, thanks in part to a solid stop late in the second frame on a breakaway.
Fury FC dominated most of the stats lines on the night, including possession (67%), passing accuracy (83%), total shots (19), shots on target (5).
Facing an opponent that favours the direct play, Fury FC stuck to its preferred model of play and completed 608 passes on the night.
Midfielder Charlie Ward was once more the team leader in passes, orchestrating 118 passes with 92% passing accuracy.
Ottawa remains in 7th position in the Eastern Conference, with 2 of its next 3 matches against clubs ranked higher (Nashville, Tampa Bay).
POST-GAME COMMENTS
Head Coach Nikola Popovic
"What we did today, it's enough to win by three, four, five... 19 shots against 7, 608 passes in the game against 293, in the second half we had 75% of the ball against 25% and we finished the game 67% against 32%. In 90% of the matches, when you play like this, it's enough to win. However, the ball didn't go our way. We created enough chances to get out of here with three points but we didn't, and they came to defend, and they defended well. For us, we lost two points today."
Goalkeeper Callum Irving
"It can be tough to change the pace of the game when a team is sitting back like that. You move it up the field a little bit and kind of hit a wall. But our job when we're in the back is to bring the ball up to their half as quickly as possible, and possess and be dangerous. Ultimately, we do it to score goals."
"Today, obviously, the end product wasn't there, but I don't think it was for a lack of trying. We tried to push the pace at times, switch the play, change the pace of play, try different stuff to break them down. But Memphis were resilient and it just wasn't quite working (for us)."
MATCH REPORT
Download match photos (credit: Steve Kingsman / Freestyle Photography)
Watch match highlights | Review match statistics
Starting XI
Ottawa Fury FC (4-3-3): Irving; Gagnon-Laparé, Barnathan, Attakora, Haworth ©; Fall, Ward, Mannella; Oliveira (84' Mutambala), Samb, François
Memphis 901 FC (4-4-2): Caldwell; Mohamed (83' Morton), Burch, Hauser-Ramsey, Charpie; Najem, Metzger (59' Uccello), Grandison, Hackworth; Collier, Graf (59' Kunga)
Scoring Summary
- none -
Caution Summary
33' - MEM Charpie
64' - OTT Attakora
Attendance
4,108
Next match: Saturday, June 22 @ Nashville SC
Next home match: Wednesday, June 26 v Charleston Battery
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