‘It’s embarrassing:’ Charlotte FC becoming MLS Tottenham?

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Wilfried Zaha and his Charlotte FC mates have reverted to giving away points from a winning position, with the latest example in a 2-1 loss Wednesday to Sporting Kansas City.

Perhaps no club in the English Premier League has better perfected the art of losing points from a winning position than Tottenham Hotspur. 

A storied club, Spurs have a reputation for playing attractive attacking soccer but have lacked for results when they matter. Their tendency to do that has become a global football adjective: Spursy. 

That would accurately describe Charlotte FC’s play Wednesday in Kansas City.

After leading Sporting KC 1-0 with six minutes to play in added time, the Crown was tarnished, giving up two goals in three minutes of added time to come home with nothing. SKC scored at the 94th- and 96th-minute marks.

With a win, they would’ve jumped from ninth to seventh in the East. The loss keeps them right on the cutline for the playoffs.

Dean Smith’s post-match words said it all. 

“That's probably the defeat that has hurt the most, (of) the defeats we've had this season, because it's a game that we've had massive chances to go two up, three up, four up, haven't taken them and then got sucker punched at the end,” he said. “Two straight balls in the 94th and 96th minutes shouldn't undo us defensively.” 

It was not the two goals conceded at the end, but more the failure to capitalize on so many good chances throughout the match.

“Yes, they had some chances, but they were from outside the box,” Smith said. “A few of them, they missed the target and didn't work our goalkeeper [Kristijan Kahlina]. But our chances were massive chances, and it should have took the game away from them.”

SKC did take 19 shots with four on target. One did get past him but rebounded sharply off the far post. Of 20 Charlotte shots, six were on target. Pep Biel, Liel Abada, and Kerwin Vargas all had golden chances to score the second, third, and fourth goals that would have put the game into the back pocket early and nullified what would have been consolation prizes for the home side.

According to SoccerStats.com, Charlotte has conceded five points after being ahead or tied at the 75th minute of games. This came from 0-0 positions against Colorado (2-0 loss) and New England (1-0 loss), and Wednesdayt’s collapse in Kansas City (2-1 loss). That doesn’t include the 2-1 loss in Philadelphia after Wilfried Zaha had equalized in the 78th minute. Or the 2-1 loss to Nashville after taking a 1-0 lead.

CLTFC dropped 25 points from a winning position in 2023, a major factor in Christian Lattanzio being replaced by Smith, whose priority last season was tightening up the defense, something he did very successfully, making it the second-best in the league.

The goal Charlotte did score 34 minutes into the game was one that made you feel there was more to come. The play began with Idan Toklomati poking the ball away from SKC midfielder Jacob Bartlett at the top of Charlotte’s offensive third. It was collected by Eryk Williamson, who played it back and forth with Ashley Westwood before giving it to Zaha on the left, who laid it off for an overlapping Souleyman Doumbia. His cross from the left was redirected into the far post with a nifty through-the-legs heel tap by the 20-year-old Israeli for his second goal of the season.

There’s no time to dwell on it as the Crown, now 8-10-1 with a minus-1 goal differential, are back in action at Chicago on Saturday. They are equal on points (25) with the Fire but ahead on wins (8-7). Chicago handed Charlotte their worst loss of the season back on May 17, an embarrassing 4-1 result at Bank of America Stadium.

While another loss with 15 games to play would not end Charlotte’s playoff ambition, the necessity to play a full 90 minutes with the tenacity and focus demonstrated last season and the first part of this one cannot be understated. 

“It's embarrassing,” said team captain Ashley Westwood. “We should have seen the game out. We had chances to finish it off. It's not good enough. We've all got to be accountable, and it's it needs to change quickly, otherwise our season's going to be a right mess. So we need to own up. We need to accept criticism and get back to doing the basics.”

Even Spurs showed they could do that when they needed to.

Nobody wants “Crownsy” to become an adjective.

Comments