Charlotte FC have gone more than a month since their last victory. New York City FC are quite familiar with how that feels.
Tied below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference standings as the All-Star break approaches, Charlotte and NYCFC will meet for the second time this season on Wednesday at the New York Mets’ Citi Field.
NYCFC (5-7-9, 24 points) ended a difficult 11-match winless streak on Saturday by beating CF Montreal 1-0 on the road. NYCFC had gone 0-5-6 in their previous 11 outings, a drought that dated back to April.
Matias Pellegrini’s first goal of the season in the 33rd minute stood as the game-winner. Luis Barraza made three saves for NYCFC.
Now NYCFC will return home to face a Charlotte team coping with a drought of its own. Charlotte FC (6-8-6, 24 points) have drawn three straight matches amid an 0-2-3 stretch, their last win coming May 27 against the lowly Los Angeles Galaxy.
Charlotte’s most recent opponent was also CF Montreal; they played to a scoreless draw on June 24 in Charlotte.
The first time these teams met on May 6, NYCFC tied the match on Santiago Rodriguez’s penalty kick goal but Richard Ledezma put the ball in his own net to give host Charlotte the winning 3-2 margin.
“I actually thought we were better than Charlotte in their stadium,” coach Nick Cushing said. “We dictated the majority of the game, but we gave away a poor set-play goal straight after we got back into the game. I think that game was basically in a period where nothing was going for us, because actually I thought we played well in the game.”
Charlotte FC coach Christian Lattanzio served as an assistant for NYCFC from 2016-18 and can give his team valuable insight about playing in New York’s baseball stadiums.
“From memories, I felt that playing at the Mets was somehow less — was quite not as challenging as playing at the Yankees,” Lattanzio said. “Sometimes the shape of the stadium or the shape of the supporters can be different, and I’m sure that there will be zones in which we have to be careful. From memories, there are certain zones where they re-turf that can be slippery because of the nature of the grass that they take out and in.”
Karol Swiderski leads Charlotte with five goals. Gabriel Pereira leads NYCFC with six goals.
–Field Level Media
