Unpacking Charlotte FC's first home win
Colorado Rapids' draw St. Louis on a déjà vu goal; Charlotte Independence stay atop the USL1 table; Dortmund takes over in Germany.
Charlotte FC secures first home win thanks to the Polish connection … and some VAR luck
It was a familiar story: Charlotte FC (2-4-3, 9 points) was looking good heading into the final minutes of the match. Then, in the 89th minute, a defensive error costs the boys and leads to an opposition goal.
Since the start of their inaugural season, Charlotte has conceded 7 decisive goals in the final 15 minutes of play. Two of those have been in the 89th minute; three have been in stoppage time.
… except this time, the Football Gods favored Charlotte, and video review led to an offsides call that preserved Charlotte’s 1-0 lead over the Columbus Crew (4-3-2, 14 points).
Charlotte shouldn’t have needed luck to save the win. The Crown Club was playing the best soccer they’ve played all season.
The team effectively neutralized the Columbus attack, and almost every player on the field - including the offense players - was committed to defense. Fullbacks Adilson Malanda and Bill Tuiloma effectively cleared balls and denied chances to Columbus. Goalkeeper George Marks earned the first clean sheet of his MLS career.
In addition to connecting for the decisive goal in the 37th minute, Kamil Jóźwiak and Karol Świderski played box to box, and along with winger Kerwin Vargas they contributed high-energy performances until their legs finally gave out.
“As a winger, I think Kerwin is becoming more and more like a complete player,” said Charlotte coach Christian Lattanzio after the match. Lattanzio was specifically impressed with the defensive effort from Świderski and the wingers.
I asked Świderski about his defensive effort after the match. “On defense, this was our best game in this season because we stayed compact. Before we go like crazy, we want to press every ball, but we don’t need to do this, we just need to stay compact.”
“I think today our team was really really good on defense and how we stayed compact, we need to do this every game,” Świderski concluded.
Colorado Rapids’ Michael Barrios steals a late draw for the second week in a row
It’s déjà vu all over again.
After Michael Barrios scored in the 91st minute against Charlotte on April 15 to draw 2-2, the Colorado Rapids came back against an even stronger St. Louis CITY SC team with a Barrios in the 92nd minute to win another draw, a 1-1 result that was St. Louis’ first-ever draw in league play.
As always, the score doesn’t tell the full story of the match. CITY’s Roman Bürki continues to justify his status as the highest-paid goalkeeper in MLS, holding off a concerted Colorado attack in the first half with eight saves for a total 12 on the match, a career high for Bürki and the most from a single MLS keeper this season.
Both teams went into halftime with a clean sheet. Rasmus Alm scored for St. Louis in the 57th minute off of a Jared Stroud assist, and shortly after CITY striker João Klauss left the match with a leg injury.
After the match, St. Louis coach Bradley Carnell updated the press on Klauss’ injury. “He felt his quad a little bit, so precautionary to pull him out. But it's too soon to tell the severity. It's too soon to have a look and see, but he says it doesn't feel that bad … we'll just have to assess over the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Without Klauss, St. Louis was unable to get a second goal, and Colorado finally broke through in stoppage time to win the draw.
While Bürki delivered a tremendous performance, he was far from happy with the result:
I always want to win. I feel empty, a little bit disappointed, because I think this team is not as good as we made them, Colorado. I think we missed a lot today when it comes to with the ball and against the ball. And I mean, if you're up one-zero, you just have to fight for the win, you know. You have to go all in. You have to fight. We have to defend, and today not everybody was defending or not together. That's the result, and that's why I'm a little bit disappointed.
After the match, Carnell spoke about the quality of his goalkeeper’s performance:
"When we signed Roman, very early on, you know, one and a half years ago, we knew exactly what we were getting. We knew Roman was going to get better with match practice. We’re going to know Rome is getting much, much better in terms of rhythm and routine because it's not easy playing in Europe and not playing all the time … Roman has high levels, high expectations and demands the best out of his teammates. So, you know, it’s a complete performance from him.”
St. Louis faces Union Omaha in Open Cup play on Tuesday.
With a draw and a win this week, Charlotte Independence return to the top of the USL1 table
The Central Valley Fuego (1-3-1, 4 points) were no match for the undefeated Charlotte Independence (3-0-3, 12 points) on Saturday. With a 1-0 win, Charlotte returned to the top of the USL1 table while the Fuego remained in last place.
In the 29th minute, a foul led to an Independence set piece, and Avionne Flanagan’s free kick from the right side met a light touch from Nicholas Spielman in front of the goal for a beautiful defender-to-defender goal, Spielman’s second of the campaign.
By the end of the first half, Charlotte had 8 shots with 5 on target to a lone off-target shot for the Fuego. In the second half, the Fuego’s chances deteriorated further when they replaced striker Zahir Vasquez with midfielder Adrian Vera in the 61st minute.
Within 2 minutes, Vera dragged down Charlotte’s Tresor Mbuyu, preventing an open fast break but drawing a yellow card. Within 11 minutes, Vera racked up his second yellow card when he attempted a poor tackle against Luis Álvarez, and the Fuego went down a player.
The Independence continued to have good chances, but only needed one goal to secure the win. Just like Charlotte FC, they play in the Open Cup on Tuesday, April 25, travelling to South Carolina to face the USL Championship Charleston Battery at 7:00 PM. In the last meeting between the two teams, the Independence won 5-1 in an October 2021 match at Memorial Stadium in Charlotte.
On this week’s Charlotte Soccer Show podcast, Independence captain Clay Dimick mentioned that the team his squad really wants to play in the Open Cup is Charlotte FC. Should both squads win on Tuesday, that may happen for the first time in the round of 32.
With a 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund tops the Bundesliga
Bayern Munich (17-4-8, 59 points) is struggling this year. Perhaps its championship fatigue; they’ve won the last 10 Bundesliga titles, a streak that has to end at some point. Perhaps it’s the loss of Robert Lewandowski to FC Barcelona, leaving the team without a key scorer.
It’s been three years since they’ve won the Champions League, and earlier this week they were eliminated by wunderkind Erling Haaland and a superior Manchester City team. There’s no shame in losing to City, but Bayern certainly wasn’t expecting to drop a 3-1 match to 1. FSV Mainz 05 (12-8-9, 45 points).
Enter Borussia Dortmund (19-7-3, 60 points), and a decisive win against Eintracht Frankfurt (11-9-9, 42 points) thanks in part to a Donyell Malen brace.
Both Bayern and Dortmund have a relatively clear path to the end of the season, with five matches apiece left in the campaign. Bayern still has an insurmountable lead in goal differential to count on if it comes down to tiebreakers, and Dortmund will have to face Mainz in their final match of the season.
However, it does seem like this could be the year Bayern finally falls.