In a match that seemed destined to secure successive 0-0 draws between the Ottawa Fury and Fort Lauderdale Strikers, it was a 52nd minute goal by Aly Hassan that spurred Marc Dos Santos’ men to a 2-0 victory.
The Fury secured all three points for only their second win in seven matches. The first half was rather pedestrian as the two teams seemed reluctant to trade more than half-hearted jabs. Playing a match in midweek may have played a factor in the second half, as the Strikers slowed visibly after the break, a fact confirmed following the match by Strikers head coach Günter Kronsteiner: “For us, tiredness was an issue. Two games in one week is not really easy.”
With the Fury up 1-0 on the Hassan goal, the game’s result was effectively confirmed once Strikers right back PC petulantly picked up a second yellow card for elbowing Fury captain Richie Ryan in the face. The nature of the offense was so glaring that the referee could have made it a straight red card.
From that point on, the Fury were completely dominant as they made their man advantage count. Since the Strikers were chasing the match at that point and trying to get into offensive positions, obscene amounts of space were granted once the Fury were in possession.
At one point, it seemed as if the Fury’s attackers were lining up to pepper shots on stranded Strikers keeper Josh Ford. Tommy Heinemann, Paulo Junior and Siniša Ubiparipović were successively able to tee off with great opportunities, with Ubiparipović finally breaking through with a well-placed long-range strike to put Ottawa up 2-0 in the 81st minute. The goal was the result of a beautifully weighted long pass by Fury midfielder Mauro Eustaquio, a revelation with his play this season which was rewarded on Friday with a call-up to Canada’s Olympic qualifying team.
With the New York Cosmos and Minnesota United FC neutralizing one another Saturday night in a 0-0 draw, the Fury regained sole position atop the Fall standings, which would ensure a playoff position should they hold on until the end of the regular season. In the Combined table, Ottawa sits in third place behind New York and Minnesota, with a six-point advantage on the fourth-place Tampa Bay Rowdies, who were also victorious on Saturday. The loss currently leaves the Strikers outside the playoff picture, two points behind the Rowdies.
The Fury victory caps a tumultuous week for the Fury, who announced on Tuesday that head coach Marc Dos Santos would be leaving at season’s end. A victory Saturday was the single best way of putting the extraneous chatter aside, for now, and reassure supporters that winning is the only thing on the players’ minds.
Man of the Match: Aly Hassan. The former Striker performed admirably up top in the Tommy Heinemann role, holding up play and most importantly putting the Fury on the board when the match was still up for grabs for either side.
Next Match: The Fury travel to New York to undertake the second match of their three-match road trip.
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