USL Ottawa Fury FC

Fury FC's Canadian Championship Run Ended by Toronto FC

Published on July 25, 2018 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release


OTTAWA - On Wednesday night, "Canada's team", Ottawa Fury FC, with seven Canadian players on the starting XI, took the field in the second leg of the Canadian Championship semi-final against MLS side Toronto FC. Entering the game trailing 1-0, Fury FC fought until the end but were ultimately outmatched by the reigning Champion, falling 3-0 on the night (4-0 on aggregate).

With left back Onua Obasi suspended for yellow card accumulation, Fury FC's Head Coach Nikola Popovic was forced to make a change to his starting formation, opting to bring in newcomer Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé in place of the British defender, giving the Canadian his first start with the club since his return to Ottawa.

On the opposite side of the pitch, Toronto FC fielded a conservative side, which still featured the likes of Hagglund and Altidore, but kept Osorio, Bradley and Giovinco on the bench to open the match.

Both sides started the game with caution, and it took until the 36th minute for Toronto FC to break the deadlock and open the score. A scramble in front of the Ottawa net resulted in Toronto's Ayo Akinola's first professional goal. The score would remain 1-0 going into halftime.

Fury FC centreback Attakora, Dixon and Portilla in the midfield and Taylor on top were some of the dominant figures for Ottawa in the first half. Dixon, a beacon of hard work and resiliency for Fury FC all season, rounded up five interceptions in the first half alone.

Fury FC showed their will to battle once more, and they came out the gate for the second frame with a taste for vengeance. Despite creating a number of chances, the most threatening coming off the foot of speedster Jimmy Sanon, Fury FC couldn't muster the clutch goal that would have gotten them in the history books.

Toronto FC added goals in the 77th minute by Jordan Hamilton and 85th minute by Jonathan Osorio, and Fury FC closed their valiant Canadian Championship battle on a 4-0 aggregate score.

Fury FC will return home to continue their work on The Project as they host Louisville City Saturday afternoon (KO 2 p.m.) in USL action. They will be eager to show continued progress and perseverance to the Ottawa fans - and their furry four-legged friends - on Dog Day at TD Place.

POST-GAME COMMENTS

Head Coach Nikola Popovic

"I'm very proud of my players. Coming here, having to play in different conditions against a very very good team, I think the way we performed makes me very proud."

"It started with Toronto getting a bit more of the possession, we tried to break with counter-attack, and one mistake and Toronto scored a goal. We have to understand that when we play a team with such level and quality, any small detail and mistake will punish us. I think in the end, Toronto has a fair win."

On the play of the Canadians... "It was very good. They were very compact, very aggressive. We were able to fight against one of the best team in MLS, a team that won this championship last year, that won the MLS Cup... And being able to perform in the way they performed, not making too many mistakes. I am very happy with how all the players played, and of course the Canadians too."

Goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau

"I think we did to manage the game overall. At the end of the day, in games like these, you just see that the small details make all the difference. On their first, second, third goal, it was the same thing over and over again. Toronto did well to keep pushing forward and didn't give us much of a chance to come back in the game."

Midfielder Jamar Dixon

"I thought we did well. This game is all about chances, and you just have to put your chances away. They [Toronto] had three chances and they put them away. In terms of how we played, as a team, it was good. We held them back, we just didn't get the opportunities to score. Other than that, I thought we played good as a whole."

"I think our passing in the final third wasn't there. There were times where we lost the ball that we shouldn't have lost the ball. It just the little things like that, and then they got the ball back, they possess the ball, and then we have to work to get it back and go again. It's just a matter of managing the game, and I think they did that a bit better than we did."

Defender Nana Attakora

"It's the difference between certain levels: you cannot make certain mistakes we made today, because they are clinical and they took their chances. But it was fun, we learned a lot, and now we get to focus on our USL season."

MATCH REPORT

Download Team Stats

Starting XI

Ottawa Fury FC (4-3-3): Crépeau; Gagnon-Laparé, Meilleur-Giguère, Attakora, Edward; Dixon © (66' Mannella), Portilla, Oliveira; Haber (46' Reid), Dos Santos, Taylor (61' Sanon)

Toronto FC (5-3-2): Irwin; Telfer, Mavinga (61' Morgan), Hernandez, Hagglund, Morrow; Fraser, Chapman (69' Osorio), Delgado; Akinola, Altidore (46' Hamilton)

Scoring Summary

36' - Akinola

77' - Hamilton (Morgan)

85' - Osorio (Delgado)

Caution Summary

32' - Taylor

78' - Oliveira

Attendance

18,795

Next Match: Saturday, July 28 v Louisville City - 2:00 pm - TD Place

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from July 25, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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