Fury FC Draws 1-1 against Bethlehem Steel FC
October 12, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release
OTTAWA - Fury FC draws 1 -1 against Bethlehem Steel FC during their last home game of the 2019 season before starting the playoffs.
From the first minute of play, Ottawa dominated the midfield by winning the vast majority of duels, giving a rather dynamic tempo to the match. Ottawa Fury FC was all over his opposition in the first half and created many goal scoring opportunities. Mour Samb almost opened the score at the 20th minute, but it was called off due to a handball seconds prior to the goal. Fury FC fans had to wait at the 40th minute of play to see captain Carl Haworth opening the score with his 10th goal of the season. With more than 15 chances created, Ottawa could not find the back of the net and Bethlehem Steel FC took advantage of the situation by scoring at the 71st minute.
Despite a single point gain, the fans at TD Place were treated to a high level of play from both sides in what was an exciting soccer match. Once again, Fury FC has been strong at home during 90 minutes and ended on a positive note with an excellent record of 10W-2L-4D at TD Place Stadium this season.
Week 32 of USL Championship action was exciting for Fury FC fans, as the team has clinched a playoff spot for the first time in the young history of Fury FC being in the USL. 2015 was the last time Fury FC took part in a post season game. The team was at that time evolving in the NASL.
Nikola Popovic's side will be back on the road to face the Charlotte Independence next Saturday to close their regular season.
Storylines
Carl Haworth scored for the tenth time this year and to create a lot of opportunities. He is now tied with Wal Fall for the title of the top scorer and also has 6 assists to his account.
Fury FC finished the game with 15 shots toward the goal against 7 for Bethlehem Steel FC.
Fury FC's defense was again excellent during 90 minutes. The back four had to be vigilant in order to stop Bethlehem Steel quick counter attacks. In total, they intercepted the ball 12 times and won 16 tackles.
Goalkeeper Callum Irving was named player of the game. Irving led his team well and made three important saves to keep his team in the game.
Post-game comments
Head Coach Nikola Popovic:
It was a really good first half, we created a lot of chances and we were able to score one goal. In the second half, we also created many chances and ended up with 15 shots in total. I believe that this is more than enough in order to score 2 or 3 goals. However, it has been the story of our season, we create a lot of chances, but sometimes we are not able to finish them.
Although we had a very good first half, we knew that they were going to press really high and launch their counter attack. They created some very dangerous situation and were able to score one and I think that today's result is deserved.
It's not going to affect us; we are very confident. We have to keep going, maintain momentum, but we need to score more goals.
Captain Carl Haworth:
There is no excuse for it. We knew they were dangerous on counter attacks, but we should have scored more in the first half. We need to take responsibilities and don't get too comfortable.
If we take care of the things we can control, we will be a very hard team to beat. We are confident no matter who we will face during the playoffs.
Match Recap
Starting XI
Ottawa Fury FC (4-3-3): Irving; Dixon (60' Oliveira), Attakora, Meilleur-Giguère, Obasi; Ward, Thiago, Fall (Gagnon-Laparé); Haworth©, Samb, Barry
Bethlehem Steel FC (4-4-2): Morton; Cortes, Kingue (77' Huckaby), Turner, Harriel; Zandi, Chambers©, Picazo, Miscic (64' Flores); Pemi Moumbagna (90+2' Diaz), Borgelin
Scoring Summary
40'- OTT Haworth ©
71'- BST
Caution Summary
43'- BST Kingue
78'- BST Zandy
90+7'- OTT Ward
Attendance
5,539
Next match: Saturday, October 19 vs. Charlotte Independence - Kickoff 7:00 p.m. ET
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