Match Preview | Ottawa Fury FC vs. Bethlehem Steel FC
August 21, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release
OTTAWA - After going undefeated last week in a two-game home stand, Ottawa Fury FC will be on the road to face the Bethlehem Steel FC on Wednesday in a match that could see them take a serious option on a top-4 spot in the USL Eastern Conference standings. The Steel are sitting in 5th place in the Eastern Conference with 36 points, only one more than the Fury's 35. A win for Ottawa would mean that they could head into Saturday's matchup against Penn FC in a top 5 position in the East.
Coming off a 0-0 draw on Saturday against a very strong Indy Eleven, in which Fury FC fought all the way through the 90 minutes in order to gain a very important point, they will look to repeat the same type of effort against another Eastern Conference rival. Featuring a different tactical look on the weekend, Nikola Popovic's squad showed that they could play and adapt to many situations, something that will hold a lot of valuefor the club going forward in this playoff hunt. All in all, the squad showed a lot of heart in this game and will look to keep their defensive excellence going in Bethlehem, as they have now not conceded a goal in over 180 minutes of play.
On the other side of the field, Bethlehem are coming off a win against Toronto FC II last Thursday, a game they won by a score of 2-0. The Steel count on a very balanced attack that has many contributors, which makes this matchup a very interesting one going head to head against a strong defense like Ottawa's.
Earlier this season in May, Fury FC defeated Bethlehem in front of their home fans at TD Place by a score of 1-0, a game where Kevin Oliveira scored in the opening minute of the game as the team held the fort and limited their opponent's chances in one of Max Crépeau's many clean sheets this season. Since then, both sides have really found their groove, which makes this match a very promising one.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Head Coach Nikola Popovic
On having flexibility with his formation... "The team was able to switch the shape and be able to give us a very good performance. So like for every coach, to be able to switch things like this and get a good performance is very important. Of course, these kind of switches are always related to what we have at that moment [in player availability and opponent]."
On the upcoming matches... "I think we have to focus on our performance. Of course, the points are important at this moment of the season, however I think the focus should be our performance. We have to be able to perform like we did [against our past opponents] again to bring the points. If we are able to maintain the level of performance, give some consistency to our performance, I think we will bring points from Bethlehem."
Forward Carl Haworth
On the momentum of the team... "Two very good performances [this past week]. We spoke about a week ago saying that our playoffs already began. Every game is a must win. We cannot afford to drop any points. No goals conceded is also something we can take confidence from."
On having control over the club's push for the playoffs... "We got ourselves in a very good situation right now, we're in a good position, with games that are in and around us in the standings. It is definitely in our hands. We've done really well to get here, but now it's about taking care of business and going on the road in sometimes tough situations coming up and hopefully get some points to at least maybe create a bigger gap between ourselves and the ninth, tenth, eleventh place teams just to give us some comfort for the last few games."
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Jon FREEMON
Assistants: Szczepan DZIEWA & Katarzyna WASIAK
Fourth Official: Patrick CASEY
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