Charlotte FC falls in playoff opener, faces must-win situation at NYCFC next

The dam finally broke in the 34th minute.

Alonso Martínez skipped through multiple Charlotte FC defenders from the top right corner of the box, untouched, and buried the game’s only goal. It was a terrible performance that summed up everything wrong with Charlotte’s 1-0 loss to New York City FC in Game 1 of their MLS playoff series on Tuesday night at Bank of America Stadium.

“It was a very poor goal to concede, but it probably summed up the first half performance,” Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith said. “I just felt we didn’t quite handle the pressure of being the home team in a playoff game. It’s the first time we’ve done it and I didn’t think we handled it well enough.”

The fortress wasn’t intimidating Tuesday. The 33,709 paid attendance didn’t look that full. The cold weather and lack of scoring sucked the energy from the bowl. Charlotte’s league-best 13 home wins this season meant nothing when the lights got brightest.

Zaha’s shadow looms large

The Crown played without two of its biggest weapons. Wilfried Zaha, suspended after a red card in the regular-season finale, and Pep Biel, ruled out with injury, left massive holes in Charlotte’s attack.

“He was always going to be a miss. He’s a player of the world’s caliber,” midfielder Ashley Westwood said of Zaha.

No spark materialized from his replacements. Liel Abada got 65 minutes before Smith pulled him. Tyger Smalls looked flat, failing to catch up to a through pass and overshooting a long cross. No one dared to take the ball into the teeth of NYCFC’s defense.

Kerwin Vargas, coming off nine goal contributions during the season, couldn’t generate much after taking a hard foul from Raul Gustavo in the eighth minute. He limped significantly afterward and wasn’t able to run full speed on the next offensive possession.

Idan Toklomati, the No. 3 player on MLS’s 22 Under 22 list with 11 goals and four assists this season, floated in the box waiting for chances that never came with quality.

Sloppy first half, better second

The opening 45 minutes exposed Charlotte at its worst. NYCFC controlled 56.55% of possession. The Pigeons outshot the Crown 8-3. Charlotte gave away too many balls, broke down with heavy touches in the final third and misplaced passes constantly.

“Yeah, it was the first half, it was sloppy by us, we gave away too many balls,” Westwood said. “We didn’t have a lot of scoring, to be fair, but again, they’ve had a moment of brilliance, but it was sloppy for us.”

At the midpoint of the first half, Charlotte hadn’t earned a yellow or red card. The referees swallowed their whistles, allowing physical play. When Zaha plays aggressive and physical, he’s at his best. No one replicated that edge.

Charlotte did sigh in relief when Andrés Perea hit the crossbar from the center of the box in the 31st minute — an attempt with 13% expected goals. The defense bent but hadn’t broken. Three minutes later, it collapsed.

Smith’s halftime message was direct: “Go and ask them a question. The first half was like a whimper. We never really laid a glove on them.”

The second half brought improvement. Three corner attempts in the first 10 minutes showcased tactical adjustments. By the 60th minute, Charlotte had pulled NYCFC’s possession down to 52.68%. The Crown finished with 50.9% possession overall and flipped the time-of-possession advantage dramatically.

But Charlotte couldn’t finish. A potential penalty kick in the 56th minute became just a free kick outside the box, and Westwood’s attempt went right to goalkeeper Matt Freese. The team began stringing together passes instead of putting shots on goal — no one willing to be daring enough.

Goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, the reigning MLS goalkeeper of the year with 129 saves this season, kept Charlotte within reach with a diving save in the 86th minute. Perea’s header registered 14% expected goals, but Kahlina stabbed it away.

Frustration boiled over in the 90th minute when Westwood shoved back after Kevin O’Toole pushed him on the far sideline. O’Toole received a yellow card.

Five minutes of stoppage time couldn’t save Charlotte. Archie Goodwin’s 97th-minute attempt hit the side netting harmlessly.

Charlotte FC’s Smith still confident

Charlotte travels to Yankee Stadium — a baseball stadium with a tighter pitch — for Saturday’s Game 2. The Crown needs a win to force a decisive Game 3 back in Charlotte.

“Now there’s nothing to lose, if we lose we’re out, so we’ve got to go there with a mentality, we’ve got to go and win the game,” Westwood said. “That’s probably our worst performance here at home, and to do it in the playoffs is not good enough, so we owe this club, we owe this city, and we want to put that right in New York.”

Defender Harry Toffolo, who heard about hostile New York crowds and is excited for his first road playoff game, believes the team has enough experience to handle the pressure.

“We’ve got players not only who have played in the European Leagues, but players who have played in the playoffs before,” Toffolo said. “We’ve got management, team, staff, all of them have been through playoffs.”

Smith remains confident despite surrendering home-field advantage: “We believed before the game that we could go and do it in two games. So there’s no reason why we can’t believe now that we can go and win in New York.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 8:51 PM.