A decisive Game 3 awaits gritty, persistent Charlotte FC

CHARLOTTE FC

Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina's save in a penalty kick shootout propelled the Crown to Game 3 of their MLS first round series against New York City FC.

Thanks to a resolute defense and crafty goaltending by Kristijan Kahlina in the penalty kick shootout tiebreaker, Charlotte FC’s season lives another day.

After losing home advantage in a 1-0 loss to New York City in Game 1, the Crown regained it by claiming their first decision, which finished 0-0 in regulation play, at Yankee Stadium on Nov. 1. MLS announced on Monday that the kickoff time at Bank of America Stadium will be 7 p.m. and the only match on Friday. 

Having Wilfried Zaha back in the lineup could not be overestimated, according to head coach Dean Smith. 

“It makes a big difference,” Smith said. “He’s probably just topped up the MLS fouls ratio a little bit more with the fouls that were on him today. And another lad got a caution for fouling so much so, he's got that extra touch of quality. You saw that in the first half, at times in the second half, where he got around (NYC defender Tavon) Gray.”

Zaha was fouled six times, more than twice any NYC player. Charlotte’s Djibril Diani suffered four fouls. NYC committed 16 fouls to Charlotte’s 13. 

Much more in form than Game 1, Charlotte’s attack came close twice in the first half with both Brandt Bronico (19th minute) and Ashley Westwood (45) hitting the crossbar. In between, Bronico played a cross from the right that Idan Toklomati guided through his legs to the back post for an onrushing Harry Toffolo, who missed just wide of the left post. 

Tactically, Charlotte strove to counter the reduced pitch dimensions by playing less out of the back to stretch out NYC. Also, not a proponent of his team taking shots far from the goal, Smith loosened the reins given the smaller confines.

“There was a green light to go and create opportunities and shoot,” Smith said. “Westy’s, I was right behind it. Just needed a little bit more dip, and he’s got a goal there. BB hit a great strike on the volley. I think Westy’s was just outside the box, BB’s was inside the box. So, good opportunities.” 

Charlotte spent some quality time in their offensive third through much of the second half but could not create a goal. On the other end, Kahlina was coming up big on a hard open header in the 70th minute and a couple of more straightforward saves on the way to five for the match. Matt Freese had three for NYC.

“I thought players handled the ball a lot better” than in Game 1, Smith said. “Technically, we were better. We created some really good chances as well and looked more of a team today.”

Modern-day bulletin board material

Smith said he drew inspiration from the video scoreboards at Yankee Stadium. Admittedly someone who doesn’t know how to access social media, let alone read it, he noted, “I felt New York, and certainly some of the messages I was reading on their board, they were very confident in winning this game today, so to go and get the victory – I know it's on penalties – but now we take them back to the Bank, and it's a proper elimination game right now.”

Kahlina saves

When it came to the shootout, NYC was first to take advantage. Archie Goodwin’s goal was matched by NYC’s Alonso Martínez. Then Matt Freese, NYC’s U.S. National Team goalkeeper, dove quickly to his right to deny Ashley Westwood’s low shot just inside the post. NYC scored their next two, as did the Crown’s Idan Toklomati and Harry Toffolo.

Julian Fernández then missed wide of the left post, which evened the tally. Zaha, Adilson Malanda, and Diani hit the next three for Charlotte, as did Justin Haak, Hannes Wolf, and Raul Gustavo for New York. Nathan Byrne did his job for the Crown, and Agustín Ojeda stepped to the spot. Kahlina dove to his left, putting two outstretched gloves on the ball at the lower corner of the post to knock it away and send the series back to Charlotte.

Eight players went to the spot for each side. Seven succeeded for the Crown.

“I won’t put it on myself, because my teammates score a lot of goals, and I just had one save,” Kahlina told AppleTV after the game. “But overall, I will not say that it was just my shine because they were waiting for me five, six times to save just one, and we will win. Thank God we had this. I saved one, and now we're back home.”

Asked about waving at New York fans behind the goal after his save, Kahlina said, “Because they were behind me all the second half and speaking some Croatian words what are not nice. Just a word to them, like, ‘OK, we'll be back at Bank of America. You're done with home games.’”

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