Westwood Earns MLS Player of the Matchday Honors for Hat Trick of Assists in Charlotte's Win over FC Cincinnati
Kristijan Kahlina and Andrew Privett join Charlotte FC captain Ashley Westwood on the MLS Team of the Matchday.
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Charlotte’s 1-3 win over FC Cincinnati has landed three players on the MLS Team of the Matchday.
Charlotte FC captain Ashley Westwood won Player of the Matchday honors for a hat trick of assists, and was joined on the Team of the Matchday by Kristijan Kahlina, who saved a pivotal penalty kick, and defender Andrew Privett, who almost scored his first MLS goal (off of another Westwood assist) before he was called offsides by VAR.
“I’m pleased for them,” said Charlotte FC head coach Dean Smith in an interview with Soccer Sheet. “They deserve it, they did well, and usually when you do well you get some accolades.”
Smith also lauded Westwood’s performance with his characteristic humor.
“[It was] a nosebleed,” said Smith. “He doesn’t normally get that far up the pitch.”
Westwood became the first player in Club history to record three assists in a match. He is now tied with defender Jere Uronen for the team’s assist leader, with five total assists on the season.
Over the course of Saturday night’s match, Westwood crossed to forward Iuri Tavares for a goal; threaded a pass to winger Liel Abada two minutes later for his second assist; and found Kerwin Vargas’ head off of a corner kick to create a rare set piece goal for the Crown.
“It was an unbelievable win tonight,” said Westwood at a post-match press conference on Saturday. “It’s just one of them nights. I’ve been threatening recently, honestly I do like to play forward.”
Though Westwood recently served a suspension for yellow card accumulation, he says it hasn’t changed his performance; instead, he saw Charlotte’s first 35 minutes against Cincinnati as the best the team has played all season.
“It was a statement performance,” said Westwood of Charlotte’s win against Cincinnati. “The manager said before the game, ‘we’ve got three away games, three tough games before the break, and then we’ve only got nine games left to make a real push into the playoffs … it was just a brilliant performance.”
Charlotte FC faces the Columbus Crew in Ohio on Wednesday in their last match before the MLS All Star break.