Reactions and Photographs from Charlotte FC's 1-0 Loss to Inter Miami
Charlotte went a man up when Inter Miami Goalkeeper Oscar Ustari earned a red card for taking out Wilfried Zaha, but a major defensive lapse cost the Crown a point on the road.
Editor’s Note: Calvin Hernandez of The Picture Box Photography is a talented photographer in South Florida who was gracious enough to lend Soccer Sheet some of his work from Sunday’s match between Inter Miami CF and Charlotte FC. Scroll to the bottom for galleries of his work from the match.
Charlotte FC’s season is only three matches old, and already it feels like a season of highs and lows. The opening match in Seattle wasn’t contested well by the Crown, but they came away with a point. Everything clicked in the home opener against Atlanta, and Charlotte’s dominant 2-0 win was what you expect from a top contender.
Then, in Miami, Charlotte played what looked like its best half so far this season. Designated Player Wilfried Zaha forced Inter Miami CF goalkeeper Oscar Ustari to commit a DOGSO (Denying an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity) and he was sent off with a red card. Unfortunately, the penalty didn’t occur in the box, but Charlotte was given a clear advantage with Miami down one man and Lionel Messi on the bench, who wouldn’t play.
Charlotte dominated the first half in terms of possession and opportunities.
Inter Miami CF v. Charlotte FC
March 9, 2025
Chase Stadium
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Final Score: 1 - 0
Inter Miami CF Goals
Tadeo Allende 46'
Inter Miami CF Red Cards
Oscar Ustari 38’
Soccer Sheet’s Man of the Match for Charlotte
Wilfried Zaha
What looked like either a close Charlotte win or a very respectable away draw against one of the league’s best teams evaporated with a defensive lapse in the first minute of the second half. Charlotte’s defense was out of position and unprepared, and the talented Miami side took advantage, getting the ball to winger Tadeo Allende through precise passing and trapping, giving him a clear chance on goal and a shot Charlotte’s Kristijan Kahlina shouldn’t be expected to stop.
“We started sloppy. It’s unacceptable from us, we know that,” Charlotte FC captain Ashley Westwood told reporters after the match. “We need to do better than [giving away that goal] and that’s been the biggest disappointment of tonight.”
After the first minute of the second half, Charlotte went back to dominating. They would hold possession for 57% of the match, unusual for a team that likes to play as a defensive fortress without the ball, then counter attack in transition. The Crown forced Miami’s defense to concede 13 corners (to two for Miami), but couldn’t find the tall center back Adilson Malanda, who has scored both of his goals for Charlotte off of corner kicks, or the equally massive striker Patrick Agyemang, who scored on Miami’s pitch earlier in the year for the U.S. Men’s National Team against Venezuela.
Charlotte just couldn’t finish, ending the match with no shots on target. The Herons effectively double-, triple-, and quadruple-teamed Zaha, and at this point in the season Charlotte hasn’t learned how to get the ball from a defended Zaha on the left wing to open attackers on the right and in the center.
“It's difficult [to play against 10 men] when you've got players who are capable and defend in the box like they did,” Charlotte FC head coach Dean Smith told reporters after the match.
Charlotte does have a legitimate gripe coming out of the match, which is the selective enforcement of MLS targeting rules. Last year, it looked as if the officials let Agyemang get fouled without major consequences; this year, Zaha is taking most of the abuse for Charlotte. Of Miami’s 10 fouls, more than half were committed on Zaha, but no yellow card was given to a Miami player for the repeated infringement.
Soccer Sheet asked Westwood if he had any words for the officials.
“I was trying to speak to him, but you can’t really speak to the [first official],” said Westwood. “Listen, we’re not going to get frustrated, we ain’t a team that’s going to blame the referees, put it that way.”
When we asked Coach Smith if the targeting rule wasn’t working since Zaha was fouled so many times, his answer was uncharacteristically succinct:
“Nobody got a yellow card for it, so yeah,” Smith replied.
Charlotte’s season continues this weekend at home. The Crown faces FC Cincinnati at Bank of America Stadium at 7:30 PM on Saturday, March 15.
Snap Judgements from Soccer Sheet Contributors
Matt Cramer (Matt at the Movies)
I foam at the mouth when my other favorite squad FC Bayern plays a man up against a packed defense, as I know our skill set will pick the other team apart eventually. When Charlotte FC went a man up on Sunday, I knew we would have our work cut out for us. We are much stronger going north/south than trying to use individual talent to dissect a goal in the final third, and it showed.
The Apple TV+ color commentator was right in that we would have had more of a chance playing 11 v 11 than a man up today. Hoping to bounce back next week against a tough Cincinnati squad.
Rebekah Whilden
I was mainly frustrated the entire time. We know Charlotte FC is better than this, and while you can argue it would have been an easier match with 11 men on both sides, that goal in the first minute of the second half was embarrassing. You can do that in the first half of the season, I guess … but if Charlotte does that down the stretch, they’re in trouble.
Also, last year Charlotte struggled with set pieces in the first half of the season, but it seemed as if they got better the second half of the season. With a total of 13 corners for the Crown against a 10-man Miami side, the team could have used Djibril Diani’s height (congrats on the baby!), but too many of Ashley Westwood’s corner kicks missed the area.
Sam Spencer
Charlotte FC dominated the match, but like the Crown of old couldn’t find a way to get the ball in the net. At least with the six (seven? more?) fouls against Wilfried Zaha the DOGSO was called as a red, but it doesn’t seem like the MLS targeting rule is working - the man should have had a halo halfway through the second half at minimum.
As the team matures and gets to know Zaha’s style of play, they’ll likely do a better job taking advantage of the open men Zaha creates when he’s triple-teamed. However … If the match proved anything, it’s that when Inter Miami CF is forced to play defense Sergio Busquets can still marshal an impenetrable barrier around the goal.
Gallery: Charlotte FC Players Take the Pitch
Gallery: Charlotte FC Falls to Inter Miami CF 1-0
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