As Charlotte FC falls to league leader Inter Miami, areas for improvement remain apparent

First-year coach Dean Smith was pleased with a Charlotte FC performance that saw the Queen City side tied with league leader Inter Miami late in the second half of Wednesday’s game.

The normally resolute side was stretched throughout as a back-and-forth second half progressed, and both teams created opportunities late in the game. Eventually, the decisive goal came.

Benjamin Cremaschi got on the end of a Julian Gressel cross in the 86th minute and lifted Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium on Wednesday.

Even without Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, Inter Miami’s presence drew 47,218 fans — the second largest crowd of the season and fifth in franchise history.

However, as Wednesday’s result showed, Charlotte FC still has areas to improve as it aims to compete with the league’s best.

Charlotte FC sat sixth in the Eastern Conference with 32 points from 21 games entering the game. The third-year side is comfortably in the playoff picture in its first season under Smith after scraping its way into the postseason last year.

Charlotte had conceded an average of just one goal per game this season, the joint-best defensive record in MLS, before giving up two goals in Wednesday’s defeat. The Queen City side gave up 52 goals in 34 regular season games last season under former coach Christian Lattanzio.

That defensive unit looked solid early and the Queen City side registered the first five shots of the game, but Inter Miami found the opening goal in the 29th minute with a well-worked move that ended with Robert Taylor firing Jordi Alba’s cutback into an open net.

Charlotte hadn’t conceded in the opening 30 minutes before last week, but have now done so in back-to-back games.

As Inter Miami showed Wednesday, Charlotte’s solid defense isn’t unbeatable.

“The game got a little bit stretched, our front four got a little bit stretched from our back six,” Smith said. “But I think their’s did as well, it was that sort of game. They just showed that little bit of quality.”

Patrick Agyemang responded to Taylor’s opener late in the first half, winning the ball at midfield and driving forward before finding the bottom right corner. The goal, his third in three games, stood after a lengthy video review.

But Cremaschi’s tally proved to be the winner despite a late push from a Charlotte team that only produced one clinical moment in front of goal on Wednesday.

Agyemang impressed throughout the match and registered a season-high seven shots, but missed a quality chance to give Charlotte the lead in the 65th minute. He was sent off in second half stoppage time after an altercation off the ball. The Queen City side only put two of its 13 shots on target.

“We’re missing too many chances and too many games. If we were taking those chances, we’d be top three for sure,” Smith said. “The way we played games, the way we’ve restricted the opposition, some of the big chances we’ve missed — that’s been our biggest problem.”

Smith said he has been happy with how the attacking three of Kerwin Vargas, Liel Abada and Agyemang have gelled over the first half of the season, but the club is likely to add more players to the group in the upcoming transfer window.

Charlotte still has one designated player spot to fill even with Karol Swiderski’s potential return. Smith said he prefers to add another striker with the remaining slot to boost a lackluster attacking record this season.

The Queen City side produced an expected goal total of 30.01 and scored 23 times in 21 games entering Wednesday’s game, which ranks 21st and 28th in the league, respectively. Charlotte’s one goal against Inter Miami was less than the 1.5 expected goals it produced based on the chances it created.

“I think we need a nine at the club,” Smith said at a press conference on Thursday. “I want a natural goal scorer who is gonna go and compete with the others.”

Charlotte FC created enough chances to find a goal that might’ve changed Wednesday’s result, but it couldn’t.

“They’ve only had three clear chances and scored two. So again, that’s a difference,” Ashley Westwood said. “We are creating chances, but again, that’s why they’ve got quality players up there and that’s what we need to strive to be.”

As the third-year side continues to push for its second consecutive playoff appearance and its best regular season finish in franchise history with Smith at the helm, areas for improvement remain apparent. With the impending transfer window and plenty of games remaining in Smith’s first season, Charlotte will get the chance to keep developing soon.