Charlotte FC have yet to score a goal in their first-round MLS playoff series against New York City FC but still stand on the precipice of their first Eastern Conference semifinal appearance heading into the series finale on Friday.
As the fourth seed, Charlotte earned the right to host the definitive game of the best-of-three set. And because of the format, Charlotte FC forced the third match despite losing the opener 1-0 and triumphing only on penalties following a 0-0 draw in the second game at fifth-seeded New York City.
Wilfried Zaha returned for the second match after being suspended for the opener because of a red card earned in the regular-season finale. However, Pep Biel’s season-ending injury sustained in late September continues to loom for Charlotte’s attack, which hasn’t looked nearly as threatening without him.
Zaha and Biel each had 10 goals in the regular season, one behind team leader Idan Toklomati.
“We’re happy with the players that we’ve got,” Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith said. “We lost Pep Biel. There’s nothing you can do about that. There will be other teams that have lost good players as well. We’ve certainly won enough games without him to warrant ourselves to be in the playoffs with a really good chance of getting through.”
Meanwhile, first-year NYCFC coach Pascal Jansen admits it’s a little amusing dealing with foreign colleagues who don’t understand why his side hasn’t progressed despite Alonso Martinez scoring the series’ lone goal in the opening game.
Most knockout competitions across the world feature either a single-elimination match or a two-leg series in which the team with more total goals over 180 minutes advances.
However, Jansen admits his team wasn’t as sharp in possession in Game 2 as in the opener, and that the stakes of the penalty tiebreaker in that game were clear.
“To be honest, I got a few phone calls and a few texts asking why we were not in the semis yet. I had to explain the format to them, and then they understood,” Jansen said. “Of course it was unsatisfying coming out of game No. 2 in New York, because we were hoping to get the job done.”
–Field Level Media
