Biel, Charlotte routs San Jose 4-1 in dominant display

Charlotte FC 4-1 San Jose Earthquakes

CHARLOTTE, NC–Off an incredible playmaking performance from in-form midfielder Pep Biel, Charlotte strolled to a smooth 4-1 win against a struggling San Jose squad.

With key players like Patrick Agyemang, Wilfried Zaha, Tim Ream, and more on international duty, Charlotte found themselves short-handed in a home match against one of MLS’s most explosive offenses. Yet, you would have barely known Charlotte was missing its top striker and wingback. Their comprehensive victory saw them dominate San Jose in possession, consistently pressuring their opponents on offense while rarely finding themselves in trouble on the other end.

“I thought we were okay today without being as good as we were the last game [a 1-0 win against Cincinnati]. But, I thought we understood, tactically, what to do,” manager Dean Smith told media after the match. “They made it hard with their man-to-man play without the ball, so you had to get up back and through, and I thought we did that well at times.”

Within the first eleven minutes of the game, attacking midfielder Pep Biel scored the game’s first goal. Streaking towards the top of the box from a counterattack, Biel pounced on a deflected through-ball and neatly tucked in a curving shot into the bottom left corner. As pyrotechnics flared and a sea of blue danced in Bank of America Stadium, Biel kissed his hand and waved it to the crowd. The Olympiacos loanee has become one of the faces of the team — not only has he amassed two goals and four assists in only five appearances this season, but he won MLS Player of the Matchday on Monday.

Charlotte doubled their lead after a counter-attack 20 minutes later. Academy talent Idan Gurno squared a perfect ball for Kevin Vargas ten yards away from the goal, but Vargas missed his shot. Even after Vargas squandered his opportunity, Gurno scampered after the loose ball before toeing a chipped ball to Ashley Westwood, who easily beat the keeper.

The boys in blue made it three merely minutes after the restart. Midfield maestro Biel quickly dribbled into a little pocket of space before accurately, easily finding Brandt Bronico to set him one-on-one with San Jose’s Daniel. Bronico easily beat the keeper, converted the open net, and celebrated his first goal of the season by stripping his shirt off and rocking an imaginary baby. The supporters in Charlotte had excitedly buzzed throughout the game, but with hometown hero Bronico’s goal, they burst into wild, frenzied cheers. Bank of America Stadium erupted into yells, cheers, and flames.

Biel helped to firmly end the game in the 52nd minute after he played a beautiful ball to the right wing, directly in the path of an incoming Vargas. Vargas flew down the wing, beat the unfortunate San Jose wingback marking him, and sliced a ball firmly into the bottom corner. He celebrated with a backflip and greeted fans like a gladiator taunted a crowd. You could almost hear the words Are you not entertained come out of his mouth as he celebrated with his team.

However, Charlotte will miss center-back Andrew Privett after he picked up a red card towards the end of the match. As San Jose attacker Preston Judd battled with Privett to get control of a rolling through-ball in the penalty box, Privett pulled Judd’s arm down, leading to a red card and a penalty for San Jose. Cristian Arango sent Kahlina the wrong way and converted the penalty. The belated cheers from the San Jose visiting cheers were muffled by angry boos and whistles raining down on the field.

With the win, Charlotte moves up to second in the Eastern Conference and third in the Supporters Shield race — further up than anyone expected them to be. Charlotte looks capable of taking anyone anywhere — especially with such a dominant performance on Sunday, without most of their key players.

“The goals that we’ve worked on were good and things have worked out on the training ground as well,” Smith grinned. “I’d like more control of the game, it seemed a bit basketball-ish for me at times.”

Smith, who shares a name with the legendary Chapel Hill basketball coach, can certainly take pride in their nearly outlandish offense and prowess in transition.