TQL Stadium was a buzz with unique graphics and former players in house Sunday celebrating the tenth anniversary of the club. But after 90 minutes of cagy play and questionable calls, Charlotte FC handed FC Cincinnati a sobering 1-0 defeat.
First Half
Never one for open free flowing play, Dean Smith’s Charlotte squad established the tone early with physical challenges and low block sets. FCC led the possession battle throughout the uninspiring first half. FCC’s second shot on frame came in the 40th minute with Dado Valenzuela managing to find himself open in the 18-yard box. His curling left-footed shot was aimed at the far post but Kristijan Kahlina was able to make the diving save. Charlotte’s first registered shot come in the forth minute of stoppage time with Brandt Bronico’s shot going wide.
In the closing minutes of the first half Luca Orellano came up limping favoring his right thigh. He would leave the orange and blue a man short for a period before the halftime whistle and would be subbed off during the break. FCC’s communications staff reported some tightness in his hamstring as the reason for the substitution. Orellano’s departure made way for Ender Echenique to make his MLS debut after a couple of outings in Leagues Cup. Echenique’s presence was felt from the jump displaying world class speed as he broke through the Charlotte defense before they could get set. It was another promising performance for the U-22 Winger.
Red Card
Unfortunately controversy reared its ugly head in the second half as FCC quickly began to accumulate cards. Lukas Engel and Valenzuela picked up yellow cards in the 62nd and 64th minutes respectively. But the most impactful discipline came in the 68th minute when Brian Anunga was shown a yellow for contact made after advantage had been played in FCC’s favor. But this was upgraded to a red card after a VAR check. The red card was a fair decision as the contact was reckless as Anunga’s studs went into the Charlotte players calf muscle. The controversy in the call was on whether or not advantage should’ve been played. There was mixed communication following the match on this moment of action.
“It was a foul on (Wilfried) Zaha on Brian, but he deemed that an advantage.” Pat Noonan continued sharing his thoughts and what was communicated to him from the officials, “So, that’s why the play carries on. For me, then it’s just a poor judgment call, because there was no advantage. Now, it’s a red card. After that, it’s the tackle as a red card, but how it gets to that point is the disappointment, because it’s not easy. It happened fast. We’re watching it, but if the judgment call is 50/50, let’s play this out. There’s clearly a defender in the area to prevent us from getting out in transition. So, everything is right, aside from the judgement of the moment. You would let advantage go, if there’s time and space for us to have an advantage to attack goal and clearly that
wasn’t an advantage.”
Journalist covering the club submitted a ‘pool report’ request for PRO officials to answer questions on that particular moment. Here is the questions and the PRO officials responses.
The submitted question:
What about the contact Brian Anunga (FC Cincinnati player No. 27) made with Charlotte’s Djibril Diani (No. 28) made the foul rise to the level of a red card?
The response to the submitted question:
#27 Cincinatti commited a serious foul play offence when he endangered the safety of his opponent by stepping on #28 calf with the studsThe submitted question:
After the VAR check and red card issued, FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano restarted the play, indicating advantage was given to Brian Anunga on contact before he made the serious foul play offense. Why was advantage given in a seemingly not advantageous situation, where he appeared to be trying to earn possession?
The response to the submitted question:
There was no advantage, there was a moment of waiting and seeing, after he did not gain possession we went back to the original foul.
Adjustments
Obviously playing a man down changed the calculus of match and saw a significant change in the possession statistic for the match. FCC was also forced to make changes to the squad bringing on Stiven Jimenez to shore up the midfield with Anunga’s absence. Kevin Denkey made his first appearance with the club since the injury he suffered back in the July 12th match against the Columbus Crew.
Charlotte Goal
The break through goal came in the 84th minute of the match. A Kerwin Vargas cross was dealt with by Miles Robinson but only made it as far as 18-yard line. Idan Toklomati high pointed the ball and headed it over to an open Wilfried Zaha. Zaha took a shot on the volley and beat Roman Celentano to the near post. A deflating goal and it proved to be the difference in the match as the full time whistle sounded. Pat Noonan shared more of this thoughts on the match as a whole.
“A frustrating night.” Noonan continued, “The scoreline, how it finishes with just us being down a man. We didn’t take advantage of an opportunity tonight, and that’s disappointing, but I don’t think it was a lack of effort. Maybe some ideas in front of goal and a couple other moments where we can find the goal. We said at halftime, it was probably going to be one moment, and we couldn’t find it obviously before we go down a man. Even to the end, guys pushed in a good way and almost found one on a set piece there. A tough loss.”
Goals
CIN – None
CLT – Wilfried Zaha (Toklomati) 85’
Lineups
CIN: Roman Celentano, Luca Orellano (Ender Echenique 46’), Lukas Engel (Kévin Denkey 88’), Matt Miazga (C), Miles Robinson, DeAndre Yedlin (Alvas Powell 88’), Tah Brian Anunga, Pavel Bucha, Evander, Gerardo Valenzuela (Stiven Jimenez 73’), Kei Kamara (Brad Smith 73’)
Substitutes not used: Evan Louro, Gilberto Flores, Nick Hagglund, Teenage Hadebe
CLT: Kristijan Kahlina, Nathan Byrne (Nick Scardina 88’), Tim Ream (C), Adilson Malanda, Bill Tuiloma (Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 52’), Liel Abada (Eryk Williamson 80’), Wilfried Zaha, Brandt Bronico, Kerwin Vargas, Djibril Diani, Idan Toklomati
Substitutes not used: David Bingham, Andrew Privett, Nikola Petkovic, Tyger Smalls, Brandon Cambridge, Jack Neeley
Misconduct Summary
CIN – Lukas Engel (Yellow Card) 62’
CIN – Gerardo Valenzuela (Yellow Card) 64’
CIN – Tah Brian Anunga (Red Card) 70’
CLT – Eryk Williamson (Yellow Card) 82’
CLT – Kerwin Vargas (Yellow Card) 90’+7
CIN – Evander (Yellow Card) 90’+8
Next Match
MLS Regular Season: at Portland Timbers 10:30pm EST August 16th; AppleTV+
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