USL Ottawa Fury FC

Match Preview | Ottawa Fury FC vs. FC Cincinnati

June 29, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release


OTTAWA - Bring it on! That's the attitude that Ottawa Fury FC players seem to have adopted as they continue to tackle their demanding playing schedule. Fury FC are back on the road again as they face FC Cincinnati this weekend. This will mark their sixth game in just 18 days, with five of those being away games. But Fury FC haven't let the strenuous timetable get to them and have put on a strong show.

They are coming off a well-deserved 1-0 win (2-0 aggregate) over AS Blainville in their Canadian Championship preliminary round and have booked a berth in the semi-final against Toronto FC. If that promises to be another exciting clash, there are still four USL games that the Ottawa side will have to tackle before they take on the MLS side at TD Place.

In their last USL game, Fury FC produced a dominant performance to defeat New York Red Bulls II 3-0 with Adonijah Reid scoring a hat-trick. The Ottawa side are now unbeaten in their last three games and they have also not conceded a goal in these games. Goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau is back on top of the USL charts for the most number of clean sheets (7).

Fury FC will be looking to ride that momentum going into this weekend's tough game. FC Cincinnati are the Eastern Conference table toppers with 31 points. They have a strong attacking unit that has scored 33 goals in their 16 games so far. No other team has scored more goals than Cincinnati in the USL this season. They are unbeaten in their last six games and have a 6W-2D-2L record in their last 10.

Cincinnati have a few players that Fury FC need to watch out for. Emmanuel Ledesma is their lead scorer with eight goals. He has also provided eight assists so far and tops the USL charts in that category. But Cincinnati are not a one-striker team; Danni Konig has scored seven goals and midfielder Nazmi Albadawi has six. Fury FC will have to focus on trying to restrict supply to these guys.

On the other hand, Fury FC will be hoping to exploit Cincinnati's shaky defence that has conceded 21 goals so far. In their last game, Cincinnati were up 3-1 at half-time but ended up with a 3-3 scoreline at the final whistle. That it was against Toronto FC II who were on an eight-game losing streak before this draw shows that there are chinks in Cincinnati's armour.

The Ottawa side will also go into this game with a point to prove. The last time these two sides met it resulted in a 3-0 loss for Fury FC. That scoreboard didn't reflect the strong performance that Fury FC had displayed in that game and they will be keen to have a go at Cincinnati again. This will be the fourth meeting between these two sides. Cincinnati have won two while Fury FC have won once.

Fury FC players have had to endure a very physical battle against Blainville - on both occasions - and the game against Cincinnati could turn out to be another one. Cincinnati have accumulated 35 yellow cards and are fourth in the USL in that category. With an average of two yellow cards per game, Fury FC players will be in for a tough time this weekend. But the Ottawa side have shown in their recent games that they have the ability to withstand the pressure and they will be keen to get another positive result.

They are currently in 12th place in the Eastern Conference but just six points separate them from Indy Eleven in fourth place. A few good results can catapult Fury FC into the playoff spots and that will provide added impetus.

Not that the players need it...

Fans can watch the Fury FC v FC Cincinnati match live on OttawaFuryFC.com/Fury-Live or by following the club on Twitter @OttawaFuryFC.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Head Coach Nikola Popovic

On the mood in the dressing room... "Everybody is very happy because we have accomplished what we wanted to do. We have reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship and this was one of our goals this season. Everybody is now looking forward to our next game against Toronto FC. However, we have another competition that we are involved in and we are going to have a very tough match against Cincinnati - a team that's leading the standings. We expect a tough game and then three days after that we have another away game against Indy Eleven. So it's a tough run but everybody is excited to do well."

On the previous game against FC Cincinnati... "At this moment we are more concerned with how we are performing than what happened in the past. We played well in that game but the scoreboard didn't reflect that. The team is growing and the only thing that we have to be careful about is the amount of away games that we are playing and the travelling that we are doing. We have to be very careful with the recovery of players."

Forward Tony Taylor

On the team's good run... "We've been focussing on doing our best and playing according to the game plan and the system we have in place. All the players are putting in the hard work and that's starting to show in the results now. The chemistry between the players is coming together with time."

On the busy schedule... "We're strong mentally. We're a very strong team and we all stick together. We know that physically we need to take care of our bodies. And for recovery, we need to get the rest and eat well. We are all professionals and we know we have to do that. That's what we have been doing and the coaching staff has been very clear on that as well."

On the opponents... "We know it's going to be a very tough challenge. They're a very tough team. We respect them but we also have confidence in ourselves and in our good run of form. We have to stick to our game plan and our strengths. If we do that we can get a good result in this game."

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Daniel GUTIERREZ

Assistants: Kyle LONGVILLE and Tom FELICE

Fourth Official: Kevin FIKAR



United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 29, 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.

OurSports Central