Charlotte Leads Atlanta at the Half

Beautiful Corner Kick from Jordy Alcivar bent into the goal.

The revenge match at Bank of America Stadium began under a beautiful Carolina blue sky.

Going into the game, defender Jaylin Lindsay, said “Our mindset is that this is a revenge game. We went there, I thought we played well, but we kind of gave up a last-second goal. But it was something to learn from … We learned a lot from that Atlanta game, hopefully, we can put it into perspective, be the better side, and get the W this weekend.”

Earlier this week, the Charlotte native signed a new contract through 2024 with a Club option for 2025. All match, Lindsay played with the confidence of someone with job security. He made key passes to create opportunities and made shots on target. He batted away crosses and won big challenges. He covered the entire field.

It didn’t hurt Charlotte’s chances that Atlanta striker Josef Martinez is out for 6-8 weeks. With Martinez gone, you have to wonder if a couple of good shot opportunities Atlanta had would have been converted. One such opportunity came in the third minute of the first half. In Charlotte’s last two halves, they gave up a goal in the first five minutes, but Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina wasn’t going to let that happen again. The well-kicked ball went straight into his gloves.

The most exciting action of the half came in the first 12 minutes. Charlotte got three corner kicks in quick succession. In the 8th minute, it led to a header that wasn’t on target. In the 10th minute, Charlotte midfielder Ben Bender kept on kicking and hacking to get through the Atlanta defense, earning another corner. Though it went long, Karol Świderski and Bender kept it in play until they could force a third corner.

The third time was the charm. Midfielder Jordy Alcivar’s corner kick had a perfect curve and brushed Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s fingers as it hit the back of the net in the 11th minute. It’s an immediate contender for goal of the week.

As we’ve seen so far this year, when Charlotte draws first blood, they win – but there’s still 45 minutes to go.

In the 17th minute, Lindsay had a run that demonstrated why the club trusts him as a long-term asset. He beat Atlanta’s entire defense and made a perfect pass straight to Charlotte forward Daniel Ríos’ head. The header was on-target; it just didn’t go in. Keeping up the defensive pressure, an Atlanta response in the 18th minute that could have ended in an Atlanta goal was effortlessly cleared by defender Christian Fuchs, as the supporters section loudly and deeply screamed “FUUUUCHS!” A similar refrain came whenever Fuchs cleared the ball with a header to Kahlina – a favorite tactic of his.

More danger came in the 23rd minute as Atlanta forward Dom Dwyer finally got a breakaway ball for Atlanta. Kahlina attacked, and Dwyer’s shot went way wide to the right. A good shot in the 26th minute by Gutman couldn’t penetrate the Great Wall of Kahlina either; another wide shot in the 33rd minute earned Atlanta a corner, but it was quickly cleared by Świderski.

Something the Atlanta defense managed to do well in the first half was keep it away from Swiderski. He got a good cross to a potential assist in the 38th minute but wasn’t the force of nature he’s been in recent matches. Similarly, Charlotte cut off Atlanta’s access to Dwyer up front by neutralizing attacking midfielders Thiago Almada and Marcelino Moreno.

Charlotte had more shots (10-6), shots on target (4-3), and corners (4-2) in the first half despite roughly even possession. It’s still anyone’s match, but I’d rather be leading at home than trailing away.