“Kids Rule!” night at Bank of America Stadium got exactly the kind of storybook moment it deserved. Charlotte FC (9-7-5, 32 Points) fell behind early against D.C. United (5-7-9, 24 Points), then roared back with three goals in a 13-minute span to win 3-1, with the decisive goal that turned the tide off the head of a young defender — Will Cleary — who was wearing Crown Legacy’s kit not long ago.
The man of the match, however, was never in doubt. Pep Biel’s set pieces created the first goal and assisted the second, and he finished the match by scoring the third himself.
It was Charlotte’s third MLS match in a row in which the Crown scored three goals, a feat they’ll look to replicate in Atlanta this weekend.
MLS Matchday 22
Charlotte FC vs. D.C. United
August 22, 2026
Bank of America Stadium
Charlotte, NC
Charlotte FC 3 - 1 D.C. United
Charlotte FC Goals
David Schnegg - 64’
Will Cleary - 66’ (Assist: Biel)
Pep Biel - 77’ (Assist: Abada)
D.C. United Goal
Louis Munteanu - 55' (Assist: Peglow)
A Sleepy First Half
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the first half came from the lineups, as Allan Saint-Maximin got his first start for the club despite Charlotte FC head coach Dean Smith telling media members at a pre-match press conference that the team was still “building up his minutes.”
“I wasn’t going to start him on Wednesday knowing that I was thinking of starting him on Saturday,” Smith told Soccer Sheet’s Jorge Torres at a post-match press conference. “But I’ve seen enough of him to know — and I’ve had enough conversations with him to know — he’s ready. I didn’t expect to get 80 minutes [from Saint-Maximin], I must admit.”
D.C. United dominated the shooting in the first half, with 10 strikes towards Charlotte’s goal. United’s João Peglow and Louis Munteanu, who would eventually combine for a goal in the second half, provided most of those shots, but only one of the team’s shots — taken by Kimito Nono and assisted by Munteanu — required a save from Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina.
For Charlotte, the defenders were dangerous on offense, with both Henry Kessler and Morrison Agyemang sending headers towards the goal, but even with a Biel strike, Charlotte’s offense only produced 3 shots with an xG of .15 in the first half.
D.C. United struck first, and their goal was coming, but it took them until the second half. Munteanu buried a set piece in the 55th minute to put the visitors up 1-0, capping a first half in which D.C. had generated the better volume of chances without ever quite breaking through.
Charlotte wouldn’t respond immediately, but when they did, the goals came quickly.
Eight minutes later, Charlotte won a free kick due to a Andre Dozzell handball. The subsequent set piece would be the first of three straight goals created with the help of Biel.
Biel sent his kick to Morrison Agyemang, who had been dangerous in the first half, but it was David Schnegg who found the equalizer. Schnegg got the goal on the rebound after Morrison Agyemang’s header was saved. It was a goal with extra meaning: D.C. waived Schnegg prior to him signing with the Crown.
Schnegg finished the night with 80 touches and 11 defensive interventions to go with the goal, a complete two-way performance against his former club.
Cleary Clears a Path
Two minutes after Schnegg’s equalizer came Will Cleary’s go-ahead header, changing the tone of the match in this process.
In the 66th minute, Pep Biel swung in a corner and Cleary rose up to head it home from point-blank range for his first-ever MLS goal, putting Charlotte in front 2-1. It came off his only shot of the match, and it made him the third different Charlotte defender to find the net across the club’s last two matches.
This moment for Cleary is another success story for Charlotte’s player development pipeline. Earlier this year he was playing for Crown Legacy FC, the club’s MLS NEXT Pro affiliate, with 10 second team appearances this season. Now, he has an MLS goal. It’s the same path that yielded Patrick Agyemang and Idan Toklomati.
Cleary told Soccer Sheet after the match that playing at this level has been a genuine learning experience: there’s plenty he knows he still needs to work on, but the night proved to him that he belongs on this stage, and he’s committed to continuing to improve. He also credited the club’s veterans for making the transition easier than it could have been, saying they welcomed and accepted him from the moment he first joined the group.
Pep Biel: Man of the Match
Charlotte wasn’t done. A trio of second-half substitutes combined for the clincher in the 77th minute: Brandt Bronico started the break, Liel Abada slid through the final pass, and Biel finished left-footed into the bottom corner for his second goal contribution of the night. Biel finished with a goal and an assist and led the team with three big chances created and a team-high 0.45 expected assists — his 11th goal contribution of the MLS season.
Goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina did his part too, coming up with a string of saves in the minutes right around Charlotte’s go-ahead goal, including two point-blank stops that kept D.C. from snatching the lead back at the worst possible time.
A response like this — refusing to let an early setback snowball — is exactly the kind of composure Charlotte will need down the stretch to hold onto the hope of hosting MLS playoff matches.
By the Numbers
Final: Charlotte FC 3, D.C. United 1
Possession: Charlotte 61%, D.C. United 39
Big Chances: Charlotte 4, D.C. United 0
Stat Leaders (Active Players):
Goals: Pep Biel (11), Idan Toklomati (6), Archie Goodwin (3)
Assists: Ashley Westwood & Pep Biel (8), David Schnegg & Liel Abada (5)
Goal Contributions: Pep Biel (19), Ashley Westwood (10), Idan Toklomati (9)
On Thin Ice: David Schnegg and Ashley Westwood are both one yellow card away from a suspension. Schnegg has 4 cards on the season; Westwood has 7.
The win moved Charlotte into 5th place in the Eastern Conference with 32 points from 21 matches, and marks seven points collected across three MLS matches since the club’s Leagues Cup run wrapped.
Kids Ruled, Mascots Fooled
The match wasn’t the only contest decided at Bank of America Stadium.
“Kids Rule!” night brought a halftime tug-of-war matching every local Charlotte-area mascot — plus D.C. United’s own mascot crashing the party — against a determined group of kids. The mascots didn’t stand a chance. The kids pulled off the win, and if the reaction in the stands was any indication, it may have been the best result of the night not decided by an actual goal.
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Gallery: Allan Saint-Maximin
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Sam Spencer contributed to this story.
