FC Naples Escapes Charlotte With 1-0 Win
The hosts dominated, but a second-half penalty secured the victory
A lone penalty conversion from Jaden Onen saw FC Naples hand Charlotte Independence its fourth straight loss in a Friday night matchup at American Legion Memorial Stadium.
The 24 year old midfielder landed his first goal in two months, his fifth on the season. Onen sent the penalty kick to the left of Charlotte goalkeeper Matt Levy, who dove right.
Naples drew the penalty on a handball by Charlotte’s Omar Ciss while attempting to make a block.
Charlotte dominated the pitch for most of the match, owning 60% possession and hammering Naples with 18 shots. However, only two of those shots landed on target, both saved by Lalo Delgado. Three shots hit the crossbar, including two from Jon Bakero in the first half.
Meanwhile, Charlotte limited Naples to only eight shots, with three on target including the penalty conversion.
Worryingly for Naples, goal-scorer Onen exited the match in the 89th minute with an apparent limp. Onen recently missed a stretch of five matches in August with injuries, and has been wearing a cast during his last three starts.
Naples secured its second straight win, and extended the expansion side’s regular season lossless streak to ten. With the win, Naples moved to third in the table as the season heads into the homestretch. Both teams above Naples in the table, Chattanooga Red Wolves and Spokane Velocity, have matches in hand, as does fourth place One Knoxville.
Charlotte, meanwhile, remains in playoff contention at fifth in the table, but the loss makes the prospect of a home playoff match increasingly dim. Charlotte is currently seven points behind fourth place Knoxville, with Knoxville having two matches in hand. In addition, sixth place AV Alta is tied with Charlotte in points with a match in hand, while seventh place Portland Hearts of Pine is just one point back with four matches in hand.
Charlotte Head Coach Mike Jeffries said in post match comments that he is “gutted for the group” in its fourth straight loss.
“I mean, we actually played probably some of our best soccer in the first half, and ended up with nothing to show for it,” he said.
Match Notes
It was the first ever match between the sides, with the Naples leg of the home and away series coming on October 25th, the final day of the regular season.
Charlotte announced the signing of defender Tobi Adewole on Wednesday, having secured his contract ahead of the league roster freeze on Monday. Adewole previously made five appearances with Westchester SC on a 25 day contract, and spent 2017-2022 with five different USL Championship sides. Adewole did not appear on the roster for this match.
Charlotte Head Coach Mike Jeffries opted to start Souaibou Marou up front in favor of leading goal-scorer Christian Chaney. The former came into the match with eight, while Chaney has nine on the season, but neither have scored in the last three. Chaney entered in the 75th minute, but both were held off the scoresheet in this match. Neither had a shot on target.
League Golden Boot co-leader and Naples striker Karsen Henderlong was also held off the sheet, having his lone shot on target saved.
Naples’ centerback Jake Dengler missed the match with an undisclosed injury. Dengler had previously made every regular season start except for a single red card suspension in May. Rodolfo Sulia got the start in his place, his second of the regular season.
Charlotte’s Jon Bakero played in his 200th professional match, while Nick Spielman was recognized by the club for his 100th appearance for the club.
