After allowing three goals in the first half, Charlotte FC responded.
The Crown came out of the break with offensive vengeance and scored three goals to secure a 3-3 draw against Inter Miami CF at Nu Stadium on November 7.
"They showed a lot of character in the second half, and that's really impressive for the boys," Head Coach Dean Smith said.
The Crown looked to have the first goal of the match in the fourth minute after Casemiro made a mistake that allowed Idan Toklomati to get the ball just outside the box. Toklomati played the ball to Liel Abada, who volleyed it into the net. However, the goal was disallowed after officials found the ball touched Toklomati’s hand before the pass.
Miami capitalized on the once-again tied scoreline with a goal off a corner kick in the 14th minute. The Crown tried to clear the ball, but it bounced off Luca de la Torre’s chest right to the foot of Ian Fray for a goal in front of the net.
Miami again scored from a corner in the 33rd minute when Luis Suarez tapped in a goal off a headed pass by Germán Berterame. Nine minutes later, Rodrigo De Paul struck a shot from outside the box that went unblocked and beat Kristijan Kahlina at the left post.
“I’m disappointed with the defending,” Smith said. “Listen, I'll have to look back on it. I think we've got bodies in that area that should be doing better. We'll look and see if (Kristijan Kahlina) is in a good position where he could come and punch maybe to clear up some pressure for us. I'm going to have to go and analyze that and come back.”
Charlotte FC had a chance to grab one back in the 36th minute when Toklomati got a one-on-one with Dayne St. Clair, but the goalkeeper went wide and blocked the shot.
The Crown went on the offensive to start the second half, scoring two goals within the first ten minutes, both courtesy of Abada.
Ashley Westwood played a ball across the field to Tyger Smalls, who came on for Toklomati coming out of halftime. Smalls crossed the ball into the box to Abada. He finished the chance, scoring his first goal of the match after being denied at the beginning of the game.
“We practice that a lot, especially when (Ashley Westwood) gets the ball,” Smalls said. “We know the quality he has and we know he can play that ball to the back post, so I was waiting there for quite a while, but I knew it was going to get there and then I just had to make sure I connected right with it and then played it across to Liel (Abada) and he scored. ”
Abada came back five minutes later with a run into the attacking third, playing the ball to Pep Biel before the Mallorcan Magician played the ball back to him. With space, Abada hit a first-time shot to the left post and beat St. Clair to bring the score to 3-2 after being down three goals coming out of halftime.
“The goal after 10 minutes wasn't too bad,” Smith said. “He's put that in the top corner as well, so his second finish was a great finish. I felt as the game went on, he probably didn't run forward enough. He came inside on the pitch too much, and I told him, we'll get more joy when he's wide and running onto things.' He's in a really good run of form, and that can only be good news for us.”
The score was Abada's 10th of the season, his first time achieving double-digit goals for the Club and giving Charlotte FC three players with 10-plus goals (Abada, Biel, Toklomati). Biel also recorded his 18th assist of the season, finishing the regular season with the most in MLS.
As time was ticking on Charlotte FC's chances to score a third and knot the match, they found their answer with Rodolfo Aloko's third goal in seven matches in the 90th minute.
Smalls had a shot in the middle of the box, but it rang off the post and Aloko was there for the second-chance opportunity. He volleyed the bouncing ball into the net and ran off to backflip into the air.
The Crown pushed for the win before the whistle blew but couldn't find it and will leave Miami with a draw to finish the regular season.
Charlotte FC will now prepare for the 2026 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, where they’ll play Chicago Fire FC in a First Round Best-of-Three series. Due to Charlotte FC’s draw, The Crown will be the five seed and will travel to Soldier Field for Game One and host Game Two at Bank of America Stadium.
The dates and times of the first-round matches will be announced on Sunday, November 8, and tickets are on sale now.
“I think it obviously wasn't a good first half from us conceding three goals, but obviously we have the second half to go off now,” Smalls said. “We know we can score three so we're going to have confidence going away to Chicago and then hopefully get the job done there."
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