Charlotte FC’s Stock Up, Stock Down: The attack flourishes with a barrage of goals from five different goalscorers

By Billy McGee - @iambillymcgee

Archie Goodwin celebrating (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90

Charlotte FC set a new club record for goals in a match as they dismantled Red Bull New York 6-1 at home. The score was just 1-0 at half after an Idan Toklomati goal, but two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second opened the floodgates as Red Bulls defender Gustav Berggren was sent off with a red card before the third goal.

Here is our stock up, stock down from Charlotte’s record-setting win on Saturday:

Stock Up

Kerwin Vargas - The 24-year-old winger made his second start of the season against the Red Bulls, continuing his track record of performing well against them, scoring his first goal of the season in the opening minute of the second half, and has now scored in each of the last three fixtures against New York. Beyond his goal, Vargas also drew the foul that led to the first goal and had a big chance in the first half that was saved. With Liel Abada not cementing himself as an obvious first-choice right winger in his starts, Vargas took the opportunity and ran with it, possibly earning himself more games as the starting winger opposite of Wilfried Zaha.

Charlotte FC’s Depth - Dean Smith opted to use all five substitutions in the match, and all five performed well. Most notably, Archie Goodwin came on in the 75th minute and, in his cameo, scored his first two goals for the club, assisted by David Schnegg and Liel Abada, who were also both substitutes. Midfield subs Brandt Bronico and Luca de la Torre also looked good; the latter had 90% of his passes be accurate, including his only long ball of the game. Bronico made a short appearance, coming on in the 85th minute and leading the press. He made a key pass and had a progressive carry into the penalty area that created a near chance for Goodwin, but it was stopped by the Red Bulls' defense. Having depth on the bench is crucial for the squad as they compete in three different competitions this year, and this performance showed us that there are players outside of the starting XI that can be leaned on if necessary.

Set Pieces - Dean Smith said back on March 9 that he was bringing a set-piece coach to join Charlotte FC’s coaching staff. The team has had struggles with set pieces in the past, but against the Red Bulls, they thrived, scoring three of their six goals from set pieces. Pep Biel assisted on the first goal and scored the third goal from free kicks. The fifth goal came from a free kick taken short to Schnegg, who took the ball down the line and crossed it in for Goodwin’s first goal. With this being a point of focus and a new coach coming in for set pieces, this could be just the beginning for Charlotte.

Their improvement on set pieces will make the attack more versatile, being able to create chances more often from dead-ball situations instead of relying largely on individual players to do so in open play.

Ashley Westwood - The Charlotte FC captain had his best match of the season, with Dean Smith saying he was his Man of the Match at the post-game press conference. He dictated the game, snuffing out many Red Bulls' attacking opportunities, blocking a shot, making a clearance, winning his only tackle, and winning two of his three ground duels as well as his only aerial duel. With the ball, Westwood was crucial, 94% of his 63 total passes and 92% of his 37 passes in the opposition half were accurate, including two key passes. He had 72 touches with just one unsuccessful touch and had a successful dribble. When Westwood is on his game, it makes all the difference for Charlotte FC as he gets involved and makes an impact on all aspects of the game, as we saw on Saturday.