Charlotte FC, playing a Miami team without Messi, messed up a golden opportunity

It turns out that Charlotte FC plays better when Lionel Messi is on the field.

Presented a golden opportunity against the first-place team in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference, Charlotte FC instead lost a home game, 2-1, to Inter Miami Wednesday night at Bank of America Stadium.

Messi didn’t play. Like his well-known teammate, Luis Suarez, Messi is currently involved in the Copa America summertime tournament in the U.S., where his Argentine team has advanced to the quarterfinals and is one of the favorites to win it. And Messi might not have played even if he was with Inter Miami, as he’s questionable for the next Copa game, too, with an injury.

But Charlotte FC lost with no Messi in sight, giving up a game-winning goal in the 86th minute to Inter Miami and disappointing a crowd of 47,218 — second-largest this season for Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium and fifth-largest for the franchise all-time.

The opposite result occurred in October, when Messi did play and Charlotte FC won anyway, 1-0, clinching a spot in the playoffs (where it lost immediately, then fired its head coach). Still, that October game was electric — the idea that Charlotte FC could beat one of the game’s best players of all time at his own beautiful game.

Not so this time, as Charlotte lost for the first time in its last seven home games. The postgame fireworks show drew loud applause, but the product on the field was less worthy of cheering, as Charlotte FC created one chance after another, only to have it falter at the end.

Charlotte FC outshot Miami, 14-7, and created six corner kicks compared to Miami’s one. But all that counted in the end was that Inter Miami made the most of its chances, while Charlotte FC — other than attacker Patrick Agyemang’s gorgeous goal — didn’t do the same.

Agyemang is a 23-year-old impact player who’s a lot of fun to watch. Besides his goal, he also cranked two more shots that nearly went in and was easily Charlotte FC’s most effective offensive player.

However, he’s also impetuous, and in the final minutes of the game got red-carded when he became frustrated after being bumped around several times in the penalty area without drawing a call. Then, during the run-up to a free kick, Agyemang drew his red card for stomping on a Miami player.

“I saw it,” Charlotte FC captain Ashley Westwood said of the incident. “It was a blatant stamp and you can’t do that. Pat’s a young lad. He said in (the locker room) afterward he was getting frustrated that he was getting pulled around, but he needs to take that as a compliment because teams are starting to focus on him now.”

The 6-foot-4 Agyemang is now Charlotte FC’s leading goal-scorer. He will have to sit out the next game, though, and that may bring even more to the fore Charlotte FC’s penchant for not burying its chances.

“We deserved the victory today,” Charlotte FC head coach Dean Smith said. “We played well enough to win the game. Unfortunately, things conspired to lose us the game.”

Smith wasn’t happy with the officiating. He thought Inter Miami’s first goal should have been called offsides and he thought Agyemang should have earned a penalty kick late in the game, among other things.

“The standard of officiating for me wasn’t good enough in the game,” Smith said. “Or wasn’t consistent enough in the game.”

Smith said Charlotte FC played so well that he felt like “somebody’s nicked my watch off me” after the result.

Nevertheless, Smith said, “we’re missing too many chances in too many games, and if we were (making those) chances, we’d be top three for sure.”

Instead, Charlotte FC sits sixth in the 15-team Eastern Conference — still better than the team has ever done before, but still not good enough. The good news, especially for an otherwise barren Charlotte pro sports landscape: This looks like a playoff team, and one that might do a little damage in the postseason.

But for that to happen, Charlotte FC — either externally or internally — has to find some more goal-scoring.