Charlotte FC falls to CF Montréal; remain winless since July

Charlotte FC dropped points in a 2-1 loss to CF Montréal, extending their season long winless streak to five matches.

Early in the match, Adilson Malanda played a ball over the top to Liel Abada down the pitch who ran through the defense. Abada tried to play the ball in to Karol Świderski in the box, but the Montréal goalkeeper easily collected the ball. Charlotte tried to play the ball into the final third several times in the first 15 minutes of the match with many of those attempts resulting in a loss of possession.

Montréal’s struggled early to threaten Charlotte’s defense with shots or maintained possession in the final third. Montréal’s first real threat in the match came in the 16^th minute with a free kick from Gabriele Corbo hitting the woodwork just above an outstretched Kristijan Kahlina.

Montréal broke the stalemate in the 23^rd minute with a goal from an eventful sequence that saw Kahlina come off his line to head the ball away then make three point blank saves with the final save falling to Caden Clark’s foot who was able to finally put the ball in the back of the net for his first goal of the season and his first goal for CF Montréal.

Montréal added a second goal just three minutes after the first. Clark played a through to Raheem Edwards on the left wing who delivered a pass back into the box to Bryce Duke for a shot that took a deflection off Tim Ream and past Kahlina.

In the 32^nd minute, Abada, who had switched sides with Kerwin Vargas, received the ball and cut in to take a right footed shot from the edge of the box that narrowly missed the far post.

Charlotte kept the pressure on Montreal, being awarded a corner in the 33^rd minute that was cleared out then being awarded a free kick on the left side of the box in the 34^th minute.

Charlotte was finally able to break through and score a goal of their own on the free kick. Westwood delivered a ball towards the far post that found Ream for a header in the 35^th minute. The goal was Ream’s second ever MLS goal and marks the longest time between MLS goals with his last goal coming on September 11, 2010, against the Colorado Rapids.

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Following the restart, Charlotte quickly retook possession and had a chance to even the score after a cross from Abada was headed into the air, falling to Świderski’s feet for a shot that was deflected off Samuel Piette and headed out of a corner.

Both teams were able to hold off the other for the remainder of the half, including a diving save from Kahlina in the 44^th minute.

Charlotte came into the second half with the attack pushing up the pitch and Nathan Byrne sending a ball into the box that was collected by the Montréal goalkeeper with three Charlotte players inside the box and three more just outside the box. Charlotte won the ball back shortly after but was not able to do much.

Montréal didn’t generate many opportunities early in the second half before being awarded a corner kick in the 61^st minute following a deflection on a cross. The corner was delivered into the box and headed back out to Piette who took the shot but didn’t have enough power to get past Kahlina who made the save.

Charlotte had a set piece opportunity of their own in the 64^th minute with a ball delivered into the box and headed over the crossbar by Świderski. Abada was fouled in the 65^th minute leading to a free kick that was taken in the 66^th minute, but was easily dealt with by Montréal.

Charlotte made their first substitutions in the 68^th minute, bringing Iuri Tavares and Jamie Paterson, who made his Charlotte FC debut, for Świderski and Abada. Kahlina made a save in the 69^th minute leading to a corner. The game was delayed for a short period of time before the corner was taken due to smoke coming from the stands that limited visibility on the pitch. Play resumed in the 73^rd minute with Kahlina collecting the ball from the corner kick.

Charlotte made two more substitutions in the 77^th minute, bringing on Brandt Bronico and Junior Urso for Pep Biel and Djibril Diani. Five minutes later, Charlotte substituted Vargas off for Brandon Cambridge. Charlotte made one final substitution in the 85^th minute brining on Jaylin Lindsay for Jere Uronen, who had been checked on by the medical staff earlier in the match.

Montréal put pressure on Charlotte’s defense in the 86^th minute with a shot that deflected off Ream and out for a corner. Montréal put another shot on goal in the 91^st minute from a difficult angle allowing Kahlina to make a save. Charlotte had one final chance to equalize in the 96^th minute with Jamie Paterson nearly becoming the hero for Charlotte as he headed the ball just wide of the goal.

With the loss, Charlotte fell to seventh in the MLS Eastern Conference, two points behind fifth place. Charlotte also remains winless in their history against Montréal with another chance to get their first win over them later this season at home on October 5.

Charlotte’s next match is a midweek matchup on the road against Orlando City SC on Wednesday, September 18, kicking off at 8:15 p.m. EST and available to watch on Apple TV and FS1.