As soon as the game started, basically 20 seconds in, the Fury scored with a great Wiedeman finish off a Oliver cross coming from the left side of the box. Montreal definitely got caught off guard by this designed play of Ottawa and were already trailing without even touching the ball yet. The team coached by Marc Dos Santos had a small fitness advantage, being in their fifth week of training camp, but had a big size advantage against the very young FC Montreal team composed entirely of academy products and players around 20 years old or younger! Even if Phillipe Eullaffroy(FC Montreal's Head Coach) believes size is overrated in soccer, this was evident on almost every aerial battles for the ball as the Fury player would usually come out with possession even if he was outnumbered. Even if the size difference was a factor in the air, Montreal slowly found there marks around the 20th minutes. They were able to start moving forward, using quick passes and overlapping of the midfielders to generate some penetration but never had a clear look on goal and never really tested Peiser or De Bellis. The new USL team from Montreal was a fraction of second late on most balls and having to run after the Fury made them react to the play instead of building movement forward. Their best chance came at the 78th minute when N'Diaye almost headed a pass from 35 yards out over the keeper, but De Bellis (subbed in for Peiser around the 70th minute) boxed it out of arms way.
Both team played a very intense game, fighting for every ball with a second and third effort. On any other day, I wouldn't have been surprised to see more then 10 yellows and some red cards, but it seemed the referee forgot them at home today. This gave place to a very physical and dangerous game that might have cost the FC Montreal one of its better known midfielder Alessandro Riggi who looks to have injured his right knee or lower right leg after a sliding tackle at the edge of the box in the second half. Hoping it looked worst then it actually was. FC Montreal were able to finish the game strong, having their best possession moments in the last twenty minutes of the friendly but Ottawa's defense were able to hold on for the 1-0 victory, keeping their undefeated streak in this year's preseason alive.
Next for FC Montreal is their historical season opener against Torontwo FC , Saturday March 28th, if you have a ticket for the IMFC game later that day, it also gives you access to the USL game and come support the future of the Impact and witness history as FC Montreal makes its USL debut.
Next for the Ottawa Fury is a preseason game versus Syracuse University on Saturday March 28th.
Phillipe Eullaffroy FC Montreal Head Coach and Academy Director Post Game comments
Quick Thoughts
-One player that impressed me for Montreal was Defender #69 Jems Geffrard , very calm and collected and helps settle his midfielder in the right position, wise beyond his years on the field and has the height necessary to get implicated in the aerial game on corners and set pieces, watch out for him!
-The Fury are working really hard on signing a "name", a recognizable player for Ottawa could help boost season tickets which are going great by the way and are expected to climb and hit around the 6000 or 7000 mark for the beginning of the season,
-Zacharia Messoudi was in the stands today, but better things are coming as he will try to forget the disastrous 2014 year and jump start his career in the USL,
-Many Impact players were present to support the academy and FC Montreal players, Laurent Ciman (who just got selected to represent Belgium next week) Wandrille Lefevre and Hassoun Camara even took time to reconnect with former teammate Sinisa Ubiparipovic and former coach Marc Dos Santos,
-Speaking of Marc Dos Santos, he is very confident going in to the 2015 NASL season, he is very happy with his squad and especially with the fact he had an almost full roster for the entire five weeks of training camp so far,
-MDS is very high on defender Rafael Alves , "this player plays and never stops, how can you not love this player" who is huge and very impressive with and without the ball,