Charlotte FC restarts with 2-2 draw against Atlanta United

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Liel Abada scored his first goal of the season for Charlotte FC in the Crown's 2-2 draw against Atlanta United July 22, 2026, at Bank of America Stadium.

Charlotte FC squandered two points in their return to MLS play.

After a dominant first half, the Crown (6-4-6, 22 points) led Atlanta United (3-3-10, 12) after goals by Kerwin Vargas in the 16th minute and Liel Abada in the 45th. All was going Charlotte’s way. They had more shots, more shots on target, and time of possession but it unraveled in the second half. 

After a sluggish 10 minutes to open the half, Atlanta began building momentum with several solid offensive sets. The Five Stripes broke through in the 57th minute when Elías Baez found the back of the net. For most of the second half, Atlanta was in control and it came back to bite Charlotte in the 76th when Miguel Almirón scored the equalizer. 

“It is frustrating I suppose a little bit because I thought we played well,” Charlotte coach Dean Smith said. “I thought we created some really good chances today but failed to kill the game off. I am disappointed with the goals we conceded.”

Smith also expressed frustration with Atlanta’s second goal, which he felt it should have been disallowed for offsides. 

“The second goal, a really scrappy goal,” Smith said. “Somebody will have to teach me the rules for offside because the lad is in line with my goalkeeper, so my goalkeeper can’t see the ball, and he’s in an offside position. From what I’ve seen [through video replay] four years, five years, it is offside, so I have no idea why it’s not called off.”

Smith also thought Charlotte should have walked away with three points.

“When you look at the stats of the game, I think we had 24 shots tonight,” he said. “I think we had [an expected goals prediction] of three against one and a half. So, it is certainly two points that got away from us tonight.”
Smith wants to see confidence out of Abada coming out of the international break, and thought he stepped up with his first goal of the season.

“I liked his positivity on the ball,” Smith said. “He made the first goal. You know, a great pass out to him, but he carried the ball really well. He saw the opportunity. I think he reversed the ball back for Archie [Goodwin] right at the start of the second half as well. If Archie hits it first time, I think that's probably a goal as well. And you know, ended up in an area where we want him to be… So yeah, good performance from him.”

Although it appeared Charlotte played conservative in the second half, Smith was quick to dispel that. 

“I don’t think it was complacency,” he said. “I just think they made errors. I think a lack of concentration made by Kerwin [on the first Atlanta goal], who otherwise played really well … he looked really good. Between him and Will [Cleary], they have to defend the back post better.”

Despite the draw, Smith found positives.

“I liked the way we attacked,” he said. “I thought we made some really good deep runs, got some good cutbacks, and left some really good balls at the far post. We arrived in the box. We got better numbers into the cavalry box as well, and at times we kept it in there, in and around their box.”

French forward Allan Saint-Maximin, who signed during the World Cup break, didn’t play while he works out visa requirements. But Smith said when he does it will immediately help the attack.

“I think there were times when we won the ball back in the middle of the pitch and had space to go and attack,” Smith said. “I think he will really be a threat in [attack] quality and natural quality as well.” 

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