Charlotte FC suffered a second consecutive defeat to end their three-match road trip as Nashville SC won 2-1.
Charlotte was dealt an early blow, as Kerwin Vargas went down with an injury and was substituted off for Brecht Dejaegere.
Nashville struck first in the match with Sam Surridge heading the ball past the reach of Kristijan Kahlina and into the net to take a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute. Not long after the goal from Surridge, Nashville struck again, this time Alex Muyl headed the ball into the net for the 2-0 lead.
Charlotte was able to pull one back just before halftime with Dejaegere scoring in the fourth minute of added time, bringing the score to 2-1.
Charlotte had a near chance to even the score on a Jere Uronen free kick in the 56th minute that was stopped by the Nashville goalkeeper. Charlotte had another near chance in the 67th minute from a set piece, this time Scott Arfield missed just high over the crossbar.
Outside of Charlotte’s set piece chances, each team had a couple of chances that just missed in the second half, with neither team able to net a goal in the second half.
Charlotte’s defense limited the amount of quality chances that Nashville had during the match, Nashville registered eight shots with just two being on goal, both scoring.
Charlotte’s defense has done well limited big chances so far this season, having the lowest expected goals allowed in the Eastern Conference so far.
An interesting Charlotte FC stat after the first four games under Dean Smith.
Charlotte FC currently rank 1st in lowest Expected Goals Allowed (xGA) in the Eastern Conference.
Statistically they have allowed the least amount of scoring opportunities in their conference. pic.twitter.com/qBWEpgCEje
— Caleb Adams (@itscalebadams) March 19, 2024
Charlotte’s attack generated nine shots, three of which were on goal. Patrick Agyemang’s first start of the season saw him register two of those nine shots and one of the three on goal. Charlotte scoring one goal is an improvement over the previous match, but the finish could still be improved heading into back-to-back home matches coming up.
Charlotte FC’s next match will be played on Saturday, March 23 against the Columbus Crew at Bank of America Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the match will be available for streaming on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
