Charlotte FC secures first MLS win against New England. Here’s what we learned

Charlotte FC secured its first win in team history and snapped a three-match losing streak, beating the New England Revolution 3-1 at Bank of America Stadium.

The crowd was under half its size compared to the team’s last home appearance on March 5, when the Major League Soccer expansion club hosted an inaugural home crowd of 74,479 fans to set the league’s single-match attendance record. But the loyal 29,318 fans who were in attendance Saturday night witnessed the club’s first-ever victory. Chants of “Char-lotte F-C” filled the air.

Here’s what we learned during the match.

Finding offensive footing

Charlotte’s offense looked sharp from the first whistle. In a change from prior matches, the team’s starting XI featured forwards Daniel Ríos and Karol Świderski in the attacking line at the same time, with Ríos shading as a center forward and Świderski playing on the right side. Ben Bender, who started as a left winger in the last match, again stepped into that role. The front row made all the difference.

Świderski netted two goals, one of which was off an assist by Bender, who scored the third. The stats reflected Charlotte’s early electric offense, with the team’s possession percentage and shots on goal topping New England’s in the first half.

Team captain Christian Fuchs highlighted not only Świderski’s scoring role, but described how Ríos protected the ball higher in the field, which gave the back line time to push forward. He said that allowed the defense to tighten their position.

“We had a couple of changes in our starting formation that we want to play in, and I think that’s still part of the process,” Fuchs said. “...I think we showed much better display defensively. We were much more compact, more organized.”

Świderski said he felt more comfortable and healthier after traveling extensively to secure his visa overseas. He also noted the confidence his early goal provided.

“This was our plan today,” Świderski said. “We changed our system and it worked fantastic today. We created some good opportunities. Okay, we scored three goals, but also we have more opportunities to score more goals.”

Świderski finally shining

The Polish national team striker proved why he was named the club’s first Designated Player. He was also named Man of the Match.

After a quiet three opening games for the striker, Świderski was able to capitalize with a greater number of feeds against New England, which came off a busy CONCACAF Champions League schedule.

“My first two games I played really bad,” Świderski said. “I didn’t create so many opportunities, but today we made a big step forward like a team to take these three points. I think all the players played fantastically.”

He was engaged early, scoring a first home goal in the sixth minute assisted by midfielder Alan Franco. In a matter of seconds, the ball went from Franco to Jaylin Lindsey to Jordy Alcívar, who dumped it back to Franco, who passed it off to Świderski outside the box. New England couldn’t collapse on him quick enough and Świderski fired a left-footed shot past Revs goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. in the lower left corner of the net.

His second goal came three minutes after New England scored, assisted by Bender. Then in the 64th minute, midfielder Alcívar dribbled down the pitch and sent the ball to SuperDraft pick Bender, who put it away for Charlotte’s third goal of the evening.

New England’s penalty

The only thing that dimmed an otherwise highlight night for the young club was New England converting a penalty. Charlotte’s goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina was shown the yellow card for a foul in the penalty area, and New England midfielder Carles Gil buried the ball after the call. Head coach Miguel Ángel Ramírez exchanged a few heated words with a referee. But Kahlina made up for it in saves, notching four compared to New England’s two.

“Being a coach is so difficult and being a professional player is also difficult, but I believe we pay the price for nights like tonight,” Ramírez said.

It was still a resounding win, one that will go down in the history books.

This story was originally published March 19, 2022 at 9:25 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription