Charlotte FC’s Stock Up, Stock Down: The Crown dominates their Southern Rivals at the Benz
- Brian Maurer
- 11 hours ago
- 2 min read
By Brian Maurer
Charlotte FC had complete control against Atlanta leading to an early lead just after the 20 minute mark. They had several more opportunities to extend their lead in the first half, but Atlanta were not able to pose a strong enough threat to Charlotte's lack of ruthlessness in the final third.
The Crown put the game to bed in the second half with a banger by Liel Abada and, again, could have won by a larger margin but were lacking a cutting edge to truly slam the door home the way they could have.
Here's our stock up, stock down after their weekend victory:
Stock Up
Allan Saint-Maximin - Allan Saint-Maximin told media that he wanted to be a club legend and build a legacy during his time in Charlotte, and his first two starts have backed up that sentiment. ASM was involved in both of the Crown's goals and continued to show dynamism and quickness down the left wing. He made several key carries and passes in transition and in build up play highlighting how well he has already started to fit within the group in all phases of play.
Liel Abada - Liel Abada's resurgence post World Cup has been a major x-factor to Charlotte's recent run. Abada has a goal contribution in four straight MLS games (2g/2a). He has six GCs (3g/3a) in his last six games in all competitions, and has eight GCs (4g/4a) since Charlotte restarted play after the World Cup break. In those nine appearances the Crown are 5-2-2. The Crown is rolling and so is the Israeli who is also in a contract year and has been one of the most discussed potential outgoing Charlotte players all summer. It's been a strong response from the DP attacker.
Backline protecting Kahlina - Dax McCarty described Kristijan Kahlina's performance on the broadcast as "having a coffee" because of how little he had to do. A big reason for this was because the backline blocked 11 of Atlanta's shots and Kahlina only had to prevent .11 xG from shots on target. Atlanta struggled to find anything in or around the box and a lot of credit needs to be given to the backline and the committee rest defense for that protection.
Stock Down
Ruthlessness in the final third - Charlotte FC had four big chances and missed three of them. That's also not including the other 1v1s and transition moments where they had Atlanta in either a numerical disadvantage or on their heels and couldn't find the final ball to complete the play and get a shot out of a sequence. Against better opposition being up a goal and in control but not being clinical with momentum will cause problems.
A stronger opponent will be able to stop the bleeding and take some momentum back. Being only down one would give them life in a game where Charlotte had ample opportunity to be up multiple goals in the first half.
