The Ottawa Fury nicked a win in the dying moments of a match for the second time in as many outings as a Rafael Alves header in the 94th minute dispatched a resilient FC Edmonton squad in Fort McMurray on Sunday afternoon.
Other than a quality effort by new FC Edmonton acquisition Dustin Corea early in the match that forced Romuald Peiser into a highlight reel save, the Fury completely dominated the match. Had it not been for Oliver’s sudden inability to bury chances, the score could have been ugly.
It was a welcome change for Fury supporters, as the Eddies had something of a hex cast on the Fury. Ottawa’s only previous win against Edmonton, out of seven attempts, had come from the last match played at Keith Harris Stadium at Carleton University, which was also won in stoppage time on a Tom Heinemann goal.
The winning goal came courtesy of a complete defensive breakdown from FC Edmonton. As Siniša Ubiparipović sent the last of his many excellent corner kicks on the day, no less than three Fury players were completely unmarked in the 18-yard box. This was inexcusable, especially considering no Eddies player was guarding the far post. If they had, they may have prevented the goal.
The win on the road was the Fury’s first in close to a year, the last one coming in a 3-0 victory in Atlanta in September of 2014. The Fury can now boast of being able to take ⅓ of the points on offer in matches away from home, a figure that most managers aim to achieve. As the mantra goes: “win at home, draw on the road”.
With the victory the Fury extended its unbeaten streak to 11 and its win streak to four. They still top the NASL combined table with a two-point lead over New York Cosmos (who also won on Sunday), though the Cosmos have two matches in hand. Talk of winning the Fall table (and an automatic playoff spot) is also gathering steam, as the Fury now has a 4-point advantage over the Atlanta Silverbacks.
Man of the Match: Rafael Alves. He marshalled another clean sheet for the Fury defence and scored the winning goal in dramatic fashion.
Next match: Ottawa travel to Indianapolis for their next match on Saturday night. It will be a short week for the Eleven, as they travel to Edmonton on Wednesday night to take on the Eddies.
