Queen City Face-Off
By Ryan Donahue
Ashley Westwood celebrating his goal against the Columbus Crew (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner)
Charlotte FC faces off this Saturday at the Bank against the front runners of the Eastern Conference FC Cincinnati in what could be a major statement for Dean Smith if Charlotte can grab three points against the league leaders.
With three wins and two ties in its first five games of the season, Cincinnati sits top of the East and leads in the Supporters Shield race.
Last season Cincinatti’s playoff run was ended by its local rivals Columbus and in the summer the club decided to part ways with their main man up front Brandon Vazquez who was sold on to Liga MX side Monterrey for $7.5 million as reported by The Athletic. While Cincinnati does not have their prolific goal scorer in the side, League MVP Luciano Acosta will certainly test the resilience of Charlotte’s back line who have yet to concede at home this season.
Further, Cincinnati has used the sale of Vazquez to enhance other areas of the side, signing experienced national team defenders Miles Robinson who was a free agent, and fullback Deandre Yedlin from Miami. In the past hours, Cincinnati recently added Yamil Asad, an experienced Argentine midfielder with stints at both DC United and Atlanta United in previous seasons. However, it is unlikely that he would feature in Saturday’s matchup.
Charlotte, who has also strengthened their squad in recent weeks with the signing of Liel Abada from Celtic FC, is in contention to debut on Saturday night. Smith also confirmed in the pre-match press conference that both Enzo Copetti and Brandt Bronico will be available for selection having returned from injury. While it is unclear what Smith’s starting eleven will be on Saturday, Charlotte fans could potentially see a front three of Vargas, Copetti, and Abada attacking Cincinnati's back line at some point during the match.
Although they are the current Supporters Shield leaders, Cincinnati has conceded in both of its away games so far this season, and with a back three made up of Kip Keller, Matt Miazga, Robinson, or Ian Murphy there will be opportunities for Charlotte’s dynamic attacking forwards to get in behind and create chances on goal.
With exciting matchups happening all across the pitch, there will also be an intriguing face-off between coaches. Smith whose reputation is built on a long-term successful career in Europe will go head to head with an exciting, however less experienced Pat Noonan who in his first two seasons with Cincinnati has been able to turn them from a side struggling for playoffs to a realistic finalist contender. Noonan’s typical formation consists of a 3-4-1-2 with Acosta sitting in the attacking midfield role and two outside wing backs supporting the center backs.
Charlotte who will likely square up in its traditional 4-3-3 will likely see less possession of the ball in the midfield and could find opportunities to catch Cincinnati out with direct passing into its wide forwards who will be able to attack the space and go one-on-one with Cincinnati’s center-backs.
While undefeated at home in Charlotte’s first two games to NYCFC and Columbus, Charlotte will need to put in a very high-quality performance if they hope to take away three points this weekend. However, if Charlotte can take advantage of their opportunities and come away with a win it will be a big statement to Charlotte fans that Smith and his men are moving in the right direction and able to compete with any of the top teams in the league.
