Charlotte FC falls to Nashville at home after late rally falls short
A tale of two halves is a phrase that could encapsulate much of Charlotte FC’s hot start to the season, but Saturday night against Nashville SC wouldn’t fit the bill.
This was a much shorter story, say, a tale of the 90th minute on, and then the struggle that was the rest of the evening at Bank of America Stadium, with Charlotte falling to Nashville, 2-1.
Charlotte had its chances late in the action, with Archie Goodwin converting a penalty in the 90th minute and putting Dean Smith’s club on the board and within striking distance. But Charlotte’s late-game efforts were all for naught, with the best look in the game’s final minutes, a header by Rodolfo Aloko, sailing into the supporters’ section following a corner kick.
Wilfried Zaha misses match, serving suspension
With first place in the Eastern Conference on the line, The Crown struggled to generate shots with Wilfried Zaha serving his one-game suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card in six games against Philadelphia.
When asked if he’d change his approach to the match without Zaha, Smith focused on the tactics — not the players.
“Not in terms of personnel,” Smith said bluntly. “I picked the team I thought would go and win the game. Hindsight is always a wonderful thing. We probably got the tactics wrong,” Smith said. “We had a couple of headers, a couple of chances, but probably not enough quality in the box. I thought that when we played with more tempo in the last 25-30 minutes, I thought we were better.”
Disappointing start
Nashville wasted no time finding the back of the net, with a 30-yard strike to the left corner from Eddi Tagseth in the 14th minute, his first MLS goal.
“Disappointment because for the first 30 minutes, we never really laid a glove on them. (Tagseth) scored a hell of a goal from maybe (30) yards, I think. Disappointing to concede a goal from that far out,” Smith said after the game. “I thought we were better in the second half, but couldn’t really get a tempo going until the last 20 minutes.”
The Charlotte crowd of 26,012 was stunned early, trailing for the first time since February 28 against the L.A. Galaxy. And Nashville continued to dominate possession (62%) and shots on goal (6-1) in the first half, despite designated attackers Cristian Espinoza, Sam Surridge, and Hany Mukhtar on the bench to open the action.
Nashville doubled its lead at the 62-minute mark with Patrick Yazbek notching his second goal of the season. Yazbek’s shot from outside the 18-yard box deflected off Charlotte’s Tim Ream and past goalie Kristijan Kahlina, putting the pressure on Charlotte to find a rhythm on offense in a hurry.
The late-game surge showed the team’s fight, matching up with the top seed in the Eastern Conference, despite Nashville playing many reserves in the midst of five games in a 14-day span.
When asked if he’s concerned about struggling against the top clubs in the East, Smith’s response was simple: “No.”
What’s next?
Smith’s club will take on local team Charlotte Independence in a U.S. Open Cup game on Wednesday night, April 15th, before returning to MLS action against New York City FC on Saturday, April 18th, on Apple TV.
The loss against Nashville dropped Charlotte to fifth in the Eastern Conference, a goal behind NYC FC for fourth place with a chance to leapfrog them on Saturday.