High noon for Charlotte FC vs. NYCFC at Yankee Stadium

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Charlotte FC striker Idan Toklomati has a goal or assist in 11 of 13 starts for the Crown, including a hat trick last week against Inter Miami.

There are more than a few storylines leading into Charlotte FC’s noon faceoff with New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. 

Most obvious is that a win for Charlotte will come with a standalone record for consecutive wins in MLS’s post-shootout era. The Crown stepped up with their 3-0 swamp of Inter Miami last week to share the honors with the Seattle Sounders, who won nine straight in 2017.

As winning streaks go, this isn’t Smith’s first rodeo. Six years ago, his Aston Villa team won 10 straight games, the most in 110 years. It helped Villa secure a spot in the second-tier promotion playoffs, which eventually led to a return to the Premier League after three seasons in the Championship Division. That cemented Smith’s name in Villa lore.

More important than the record, though, are the three points that come with another win. Currently third in the MLS East on 53 points (17-11-2), Charlotte are four points behind Philadelphia Union, who lead the East and Supporters Shield standings with 57. A win allows them to stay close, or possibly gain ground, depending on what the Union does against New England.

Between Charlotte and Philadelphia is FC Cincinnati (55 points, 17-9-4). Behind them are Nashville (50, 15-10-5) and NYCFC (50, 15-9-5, with one game in hand). And lurking in sixth is Inter Miami (49, 14-6-7) with three games in hand. 

The playoffs are guaranteed for Charlotte, but that’s not enough anymore. The only control the Crown have to control their destiny, and placement in the standings, is what they do in the last four games, which start on Saturday in the Bronx, before facing Montreal at home (Sept. 27), DC United away (Oct. 4), and finishing on Decision Day (Oct. 18) against the Union. 

A record winning streak doesn’t guarantee playoff success, though. When Seattle set the mark in 2017, it helped them finish second in the West, but they lost to fifth-place Portland in the Western Conference semifinals. 

But as it stands now, a Supporters Shield and an MLS Cup are still possible, if not probable. Is it likely that Charlotte can win out the regular season? Not really. But wouldn’t it be nice?

By the numbers

Idan Toklomati’s hat trick against Miami gives him 11 goals and four assists. He has started the last 13 regular-season games, with a goal or assist in all but two of them. 

“It's not easy,” Smith said. “Forwards who score goals across the world are the most expensive ones because it's the hardest job to do. It's certainly much easier to block the goal than it is to go and create and score. And what he's doing, he's doing really well at the moment. He gets in the right areas. His work rate helps him get in the right areas as well.” 

He also applauded Toklomati’s desire to learn from his coaches and teammates, and his humility. 

“That's helping him get the goals. He takes information on really well,” Smith said. “He's a really good learner. He wants to get better, but then, you've got to then go and put that into action.”

“Even though he's scoring the goals, he's no different as a person. He's not grown a couple of inches, as some people could, with their chest out and their shoulders back. He just gets down to his work, week in, week out. And it's pleasing to see for us.”

Pep Biel, who returned to play with 15 minutes against Miami, could possibly start. He remains the team’s top goal creator with 10 strikes and 12 assists in 25 games. Wilfried Zaha follows with seven goals and 10 assists. 

Smith says he’s not locked into a lineup based on what happened the week before. How they train going into a game takes precedence. 

“For me, it's to look how players train,” he said. “We've had the performance that we had last week, but then look how the players train this week. See who's ready, look at the opposition, and put a team together for that. I'm not one that’s always ‘that 11 won last week’ so they've got to play against the following week, because a lot can happen in a week, and I've got to pick what I believe is going to be the best team for us to win the game.”

The pitch at Yankee Stadium is only 70 yards wide, the minimum allowed by MLS. That is 10 yards narrower than Bank of America Stadium.

NYCFC comes into the match in good form with five wins in seven games, most recently a 3-2 win over Columbus on Wednesday, where they were down 1-0 and 2-1. 

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