I mean, of course we're here to see Lionel Messi! He is one of, if not the, greatest players, especially of this era. He was a big drawcard as seen by the number of Miami shirts in the stadium during the night. Even non-football fans know who he is, but the disrespect he was given tonight was a blight on a great night for Charlotte.
The boys, Uncle D & I had prime seats. Front row in the club level, in line with the penalty spot at the non-supporters end. While the top bowl remained empty, the Bank was mostly full on a warm September night.
Miami started strong, down towards the end we were attacking. Early on Messi went over to take a corner, and was booed. Why? A great player, who has boosted the profile of MLS, stays away from controversy and has literally won everything in world football. I was really disappointed in this. And Charlotte piled on from there.
After half an hour Messi was bought down in the box. Had my Charlotte goggles on and didn't think it was a penalty, even after seeing it on the big screen (that changed when I saw it later on TV - clearly a foul). Messi stepped up to take it. We were about to see him score. Right in line with us! Until he stepped up with a weak Panenka, which Kalina calmly and easily saved. Then is seemed like we hadn't finished celebrating when Toklomati went up the other end and finished off a great move. 1-0 Charlotte.
So many people weren't back in their seats after half time when Toklomati slotted in his 2nd, after a nice cross from Bronico. Charlotte 2 Miami 0. Miami still dominated possession, and I watched everything Messi did, though he wasn't as involved as I expected. But every time he touched the ball, the crowd were waiting for something to happen. But it never did for Miami. Instead, with 8 minutes to go, Zaha drove into the box only to fouled. Penalty Charlotte. Toklomati stepped up and completed his hat-trick and Charlotte want on to keep a clean sheet and win 3-0.
While he didn't set the world on fire, I'm glad the boys and I got to see Messi. He is and always will be a legend and even to see one moment of brilliance from him was a priviledge. But I'm much happier that Charlotte took the 3 points.
Charlotte FC 3 (Toklomati 34, 27 & 82) defeated Miami CF 0
Crowd: 35,607
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