Match Preview | Ottawa Fury FC at Richmond Kickers
September 14, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release
OTTAWA - A month to the day after last facing the Richmond Kickers, Ottawa Fury FC will be at it again on Saturday night as they travel to City Stadium this time to take on their opponent. With only five games left in the regular season and a playoff spot on the line, Fury FC will look to make the most of the favourable matchup and leave Virginia with the three points.
Fury FC battled to a dynamic 4-3 victory against Toronto FC II last Thursday night to remain in the middle of the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference and now enters the week one point behind eighth-place Nashville SC. An energetic offensive performance by Fury FC, including an early goal by Tony Taylor, a corner kick goal by Cristian Portilla and a Adonijah Reid winner 13 minutes from time, Fury FC come into the weekend's match with a new-found scoring form that could prove crucial in the last stretch of the season.
The Richmond Kickers, while a capable opponent Fury FC will not take lightly, continued a difficult season last Saturday in a 2-1 defeat to the Charlotte Independence. Richmond is also the club having conceded the most goals in the USL Eastern Conference this season, which bodes well for Fury FC and their renewed attacking mindset. Moreover, Fury FC will look to get on the board early on, as they are 10-0 when scoring first in the game.
With an all-time record of 8W-9D-3L in the month of September, and buoyed by a high-value full week of training, Ottawa will hit the pitch in Richmond hungry for the win. Not lacking motivation and determination, it is now up to them to execute and get the result. Fans can follow the match against the Kickers on OttawaFuryFC.com/Fury-Live starting at 7 p.m. Saturday night.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Head Coach Nikola Popovic
On the team's preparation..."Very well. I think mentally the win against Toronto was very good. Now we had a full week of training, and we are looking forward to our next game that we hope is going to be a very good performance from our team."
On Fury FC's key to success against Richmond..."If we are able to be very compact and aggressive, I think from that moment, we are going to have a little bit more possession, and automatically we're going to have more chances to score goals. I believe we are going to be able to create a lot [of chances] so the key will be to finish the chances that we are going to create."
Midfielder Cristian Portilla
On the team's preparation... "The team is growing. We are really confident that we will get in the playoffs so we're working for that. We are ready for everything, and we start on Saturday against Richmond."
On Fury FC's key to success against Richmond... "The key is to fight together. Stay compact, and then go into counter-attack. During the game, we have 90 minutes, so anything can happen, you never know."
Defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère
"We don't need motivation anymore, we just need to be better in what we're doing, because the motivation is there. We know we have to win to be in the playoffs, so it's just a question of working hard together, stay strong and after that, our qualities will do the rest."
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Thomas SNYDER
Assistants: Ben PILGRIM & JT ALUKONIS
Fourth Official: Neil MORRISSETTE
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