The Boys, A & I were lucky enough to be gifted our neighbor's tickets as they travelled out of town. Hoping for a big win for Charlotte versus NYCFC. We have great seats in the last row of the club section, pretty much mid field. A disappointingly small crowd for a Saturday night (not half the bottom section was full - though as always the supporters section behind the goal was packed to the rafters and providing all the atmosphere). But you have to expect this with the high price of tickets.
Charlotte FC got off to a good start, with Enzo Copetti finishing off a great move down the right with a simple tap in inside the 6 yard box. The crowd thought Charlotte had a second, only for it to be ruled offside. At the ground the crowd did not see the linesman's flag go up, so we were unaware as to why the keeper was taking a free kick afterwards. No replay was show, nor was there any explanation from VAR, nor announcement at the ground (for Christ sake, they announce when the ball goes out for a corner!). A weak tackle allowed NYCFC to equalize in the 37th minute, but Copetti got us back in front with a header off a Swiderski corner. That took us into halftime with a 2-1 lead.
I was thinking the worst when NCYC converted a penalty in the 57th minute after a bad hack in the box. Were we going to see Charlotte blow two leads? Apparently not. An own goal from a header from a Swiderski free kick restored Charlottes 1 goal lead in the 74th minute. A tricky chance for New York was saved by Kahlina only moments later, and Charlotte survived the last 10 minutes to hold on to a 3-2 win.
I know it says attendance was in the 30,000 mark, but the upper deck wasn't open and the lower bowl was half full at most. I wonder if that number was closer to 20,000. The atmosphere tonight came totally from the supporters' section behind the goal. This is a great group, who don't stop the whole game. I hope in future games this enthusiasm infects the rest of the crowd. More wins like this should do the trick.
Charlotte FC 3 (E. Copetti 8, 39, R. Ledezma OG 74) defeated NYCFC 2 (G. Pereira 37, S. Rodriguez Penalty 57)
Crowd: 30,454
No comments:
Post a Comment