“Balance is good, because one extreme or the other leads to misery, and I’ve spent a lot of my life at one of those extremes.”
– Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails
Matches between the dominant entities of any given competition, be it Manchester City v Chelsea, or PSG v Marseille , or France v England, rarely live up to the hype the fans and media generate leading up to the clash. Such was the case Wednesday night in Ottawa where the first and second place teams in NASL, the New York Cosmos and Ottawa Fury, played to a 0-0 stalemate.
At halftime, the clubs were well on their way to playing one of those 0-0 draws that fails to inspire. Thankfully for the impressive mid-week crowd of 6042, both teams turned it up a few notches in the second half to send fans home with the feeling they had received fair entertainment value for their money.
A defensive battle should have been foreseen by the league’s sages. These two clubs boast the best defences in the league by a wide margin, the Cosmos and Fury having respectively conceded 18 and 16 goals in 2015. The nearest competitors in this category are the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Atlanta Silverbacks with 26. Those defences were at their best Wednesday night, as either club prodded and probed the other, neither giving an inch nor taking unnecessary chances.
The second half saw the game open up slightly, as each club appeared to hit the “go” button on further attacking options. As they often do, the Fury activated right back Ryan Richter, asking him to bomb up the right side and create overloads against the opposition defence. The Cosmos appeared well-prepared for this, as they compensated by successfully sending midfielders to snuff out these forays.
On the Cosmos side of the attack, much of their success (such as it was on the night) went through Spanish legend Raúl. Occupying a much deeper role than fans of the Galacticos or La Furia Roja are accustomed to, The Angel of Madrid showed his quality by distributing the ball to his younger and, it must be said, fleeter of foot teammates. Brazilian Leonardo Fernandes and Zimbabwean Lucky Mkosana were buzzing around the Fury back four all evening, but not enough of a threat could be mustered to trouble Romuald Peiser’s goal.
Eventually, the Fury’s best chances were created by newcomer Ugur Albeyrak after entering the game in his first appearance for the Fury in the 69th minute. The German was a breath of fresh air, tirelessly making incisive runs and creating give-and-go opportunities that gave the Cosmos defence a lot to think about. Supporters should get used to pronouncing his name because if this display was any indication, they will be cheering it wildly in no time.
And so both teams pick up a point – a franchise first against the Cosmos for the Fury. That the Fury were able to cancel out the league’s flagship team will be seen as an accomplishment and a statement of intent. As head coach Marc Dos Santos pointed out in his post-match scrum, “The quality and experience of (our) locker room is very different than what we had last season. Everybody got better in the league, New York got better, we got better, and we both come away with an important point tonight.”
That point leaves the Cosmos one point ahead of the Fury in the combined standings, and the Fury four points ahead of the Cosmos in the Fall season standings. One gets the feeling that this was but the first in a trilogy of matches between the clubs that could culminate in a playoff clash. Both teams will be trying to making sure, from now until then, that they secure home field advantage for such a development.
Man of the Match: Colin Falvey. Have to agree with the in-stadium crew here. Not easy to pick a standout performance tonight with everyone playing a solid match, but Falvey was full of energy playing the ball out of defence and making life miserable for the Cosmos attackers, notably Mkosana.
Next match: The Fury will be licking their chops as they host a Tampa Bay Rowdies team in disarray on Saturday. The Rowdies fired their beloved coach and US soccer legend Thomas Rongen, as well as their general manager Farrukh Quraishi last week. The team responded with a 3-1 loss to Minnesota United FC. The New York Cosmos head home to welcome the Carolina Railhawks, whom they recently beat 3-1.
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