July 31, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Charlotte FC News Release
Charlotte FC Head Coach Dean Smith continued his theme of limited rotation in the team’s final Leagues Cup group stage match on Wednesday night against Cruz Azul with four changes. David Bingham got a rewarding spot start in place of Kristijan Kahlina, Jaylin Lindsey came into the team for Nathan Byrne (out with a bruised toe), Nikola Petkovic got the start as the attacking midfielder, and Karol Swiderski started up top instead of Patrick Agyemang.
CLTFC had the first great scoring chance just two minutes in. Swiderski went sprinting free into the right channel and played a cross on the ground to Iuri Tavares. Tavares clanged it off the post with his one-time strike, but the flag was raised for offside, anyway.
Otherwise, Cruz Azul had the larger share of chances through the opening 20 minutes. Left wingback Carlos Rotondi had an excellent look at goal in the 15th minute as he met a chipped cross at the back post. However, he skewed his volley well over the bar.
Cruz Azul captain Jose Rivero had two good chances in this period. The first was a long-range shot that flew just wide of Bingham’s goal. The second was the better of the two; Rivero received a cutback to the penalty spot but fired his shot right at Bingham.
Swiderski was influential and central to Charlotte’s chances. He pounced on a misplay by a Cruz Azul center back, but he couldn’t get around goalkeeper Kevin Mier to get a shot on goal. He also played a well-weighted pass to Vargas on the right wing in the 23rd minute, who in turn tried to return it to the Polish forward with an early cross, but the pass was a bit too strong.
The clash of styles between the two teams resulted in end-to-end action. Cruz Azul pressed with intensity, creating turnovers high up the field, while Charlotte FC often went direct to bypass the press and get their forwards running in space.
A good example of this came in the 27th minute, when Jose Rivero (the engine for Cruz Azul in midfield) played a cross into the box. A scramble and multiple shots resulted, before Rivero himself had a great chance to direct a cross on goal from the six-yard box but swung and missed.
Right away on the other end, CLTFC had space to attack, which Iuri Tavares exploited with great one-on-one dribbling. His cross was headed towards Swiderski on the front post but was cleared out by a defender. Andrew Privett had an open header on the back post from the resulting corner, but he…
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