Struggles Continue as The Fire Down The Crown: Chicago 4-Charlotte 1
The trouble Charlotte FC has experienced on the road have now spilled over to the Fortress. Last night, the Chicago Fire came to town and left with three points after a 4-1 win. Charlotte now sits eighth in the east on 19 points and Chicago moves up to ninth with 19 points. The record at the Fortress now sits at 5-2-0 while the away record sits at 1-5-1. The boys will have a chance to regain form and capture some points in their next MLS Regular Season match when the third place Columbus Crew come to the Queen City for a 7:30 pm date on the 24th.
Despite a revolving door of lineups over the past few games, fans of The Crown got to see something resembling normalcy last night with the starting XI. Starting at the top, Zaha and Abada manned the wings while Agyemang was the man up front. The only change came in the midfield as Dean went with a midfield three of Biel, Westwood, and Djibril Diani. Diani in and Bronico out. The defensive line consisted of a center back pairing of Malanda and Privett with Tim Ream and Nick Scardina on the flanks. The man protecting the net was once again Kristijan Kahlina.
I was a bit surprised by the lineup if I'm being honest. After a midweek game, I was curious to see who got the start and who got to rest. I was surprised (in a good way) to see so many regulars getting the start. Overall, I liked the lineup and felt (when the game started) that it gave Charlotte the best chance to win.
Getting into the match, it took awhile for either team to find the back of the net. Chicago finally broke the seal on the scoreboard when Jonathan Bamba beat Kahlina to put The Fire up 1-0 in the 42nd minute. After both teams went into the break with one goal separating them, Chicago doubled their lead in the 60th minute as Brian Gutierrez put one in the bottom right corner of the net. This score did not last long as Chicago added another goal in the 64th minute when Phillip Zinckernagel was in the right place at the right time and beat Kahlina. Despite being down 3-0, Charlotte did not stop fighting. The boys answered back in the 70th minute as Patrick Agyemang fired a shot in the bottom right corner to get Charlotte on the board. However, the comeback was not in the cards as Brian Gutierrez converted a penalty in the 79th minute to put the Fire up by three. When the final whistle blew, Chicago walked out of the Fortress with three points and a 4-1 win.
Getting into the stats, possession was almost even with Charlotte leading 53% to 47%. Despite having a majority of the possession, Chicago controlled the offense. The Fire managed 25 shots in the game to only 12 for Charlotte. Chicago also doubled Charlotte in the shots on goal, 10 to five. The scoreline and the stats help tell the story, Chicago had more chances and turned more of those chances into goals. It’s been said before, to win the game, you have to turn chances into goals.
Charlotte has a chance to rebound and regain some form as they face D.C. United on Wednesday night in the Round of 16 in the U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm on Paramount+.