Coming off a tough stretch away from home where they claimed just one point in three games, Charlotte FC won a closely contested match back at home against Inter Miami CF. This was Charlotte’s fourth win in a row at home, an impressive stat for the expansion team. The current record for the longest home win streak for an expansion team is seven.
Much of the credit should go to the Charlotte FC supporters and Bank of America Stadium. The Charlotte FC supporters have embraced the team and showed the passion they have for soccer in their region. After breaking the MLS attendance record in their opening home match, Charlotte continues to be in the upper tier of attendance numbers and has established a legitimate home-field advantage in Bank of America.
After the match, manager Miguel Ramírez said, “Before the game, at home, we have the confidence that there’s no way to lose. Cause we feel that we have more than eleven players.”
Both teams entered the contest with ten points on the season, looking to get out of the bottom of the eastern conference. Inter Miami had won four of their last five and was looking to keep that trend going. In the end, it was Charlotte FC who left with a 1-0 win.
Charlotte FC’s 4-3-3 switch helped them past Inter Miami
It was a closely contested back and forth game that took 68 minutes before a team could break through. A triple substitution in the 56’ brought Christian Makoun, Yordy Reyna, and new signing Andre Shinyashiki onto the field. Shinyashiki, just 12 minutes into his debut, got on the end of a cross from Reyna and drilled it into the upper left corner while falling to the ground. A debut goal for the new signing, twelve minutes into his Charlotte FC career, and a game-winner.
Asked about his new signing and his strong debut performance, Miguel Ramírez said, “hopefully, it’s just the beginning.”
Charlotte was the better team on the night, but the final score could’ve easily looked different. Yes, they could’ve added some goals to their tally, but Miami also had their fair share of dangerous opportunities. Both teams had a high number of shots. Charlotte had 14, 7 of them on target. Miami had 12 shots, 6 of them on target. Both goalies saw plenty of action throughout the game. Kristijan Kahlina had another great performance for Charlotte FC. He made a few dramatic saves on some very dangerous chances from Miami and was able to keep the clean sheet for his squad.
It was a positive match for Charlotte FC and one to build on for Ramirez. Coming into this game he made the switch to a new formation, a 4-3-3, after the addition of some new forwards. Polish winger Kamil Jóźwiak got his first start on the left wing and had a decent game, although Ramírez did say that Jóźwiak was still not yet 100 percent. On the right side, Gaines got the start, but after the game from Shinyashiki, the right wing spot appears up for grabs and they will likely go head to head for that starting role going forward.
The formation change helped open the game up for Charlotte and stretch the field. They got off to a hot start and created much more opportunities than in recent games, but the end product was still lacking. Ramírez believes in adapting to your opponents, so he will likely never settle on one lineup and will constantly adapt and shift the formations depending on who they’re playing that week. But there is a sense of continuity in the squad and a defined rotation of players.
Charlotte FC moved up to just one spot outside the playoffs looking to continue climbing the ladder in their inaugural campaign. Next, they’ll take on CF Montréal at Bank of America Stadium.
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