Charlotte FC delivered under pressure last weekend, securing a 2-1 home win over LAFC to kickstart a climb up the table with a third of the season remaining. With another home match just four days later against Orlando City SC, who are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Conference, CLTFC have a great opportunity to make it two wins from two on Wednesday night. Here is everything you need to know about the match as the regular season run-in continues.
Match: Charlotte FC vs Orlando City SC
When: Wednesday, August 30
Where: Bank of America Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30pm ET
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Listen: WFNZ 92.7 FM (English) & WOLS 106.1 FM (Spanish)
For all other radio station affiliates in the Carolinas, click here.
Know Before You Go: For details on match day at Bank of America Stadium, click here.
Previous Matches:
Charlotte FC 2 – 1 LAFC (Major League Soccer | August 26)
Orlando City SC 2 – 1 St. Louis CITY SC (Major League Soccer | August 26)
Eastern Conference Table: For the full live table, click here.
4. Orlando – 43 points, 25 GP
…..
8. CF Montreal – 35 points, 25 GP
9. Chicago Fire – 32 points, 25 GP
---------- Playoff Line ----------
10. D.C. United – 30 points, 26 GP
11. New York Red Bulls – 29 points, 25 GP
12. Charlotte FC – 29 points, 24 GP
Chasing Playoff Qualification
Last week, the talk was all about a “mini season” approach over the final 11 games of the season. Head Coach Christian Lattanzio has emphasized a similar mentality that brought the Crown inches short of the playoffs in their inaugural year.
However, that year featured only five games to turn the tide and summer signings that arrived much later in the window than this year, whereas this year has seen Scott Arfield, Brecht Dejaegere, and Jere Uronen swiftly brought up to speed with a third of the season still to play.
The players clearly bought into the message from the coaching staff, delivering a clutch win at home against the defending MLS Cup Champions, LAFC. Not only did the team secure three points, but they did it with style, putting together arguably the most complete 90-minute performance of the entire season against one of the league’s premier sides.
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Now, it will be about turning that great performance into a consistent streak. Home victories will be especially important, considering the difficult remaining away fixtures – Cincinnati, New England, and Nashville, among them – and the overall challenge of getting results on the road in MLS. The team will want to be set up well in the table before what is essentially a home-and-home series against Inter Miami to close out the final week of the season.
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Playing with the same relentlessness that the team showed against LAFC will be vital to maintaining a win streak at Bank of America Stadium. CLTFC writer Caleb Adams explored how the team can unlock that relentlessness, while also perfecting their defensive press in order to prevent transition opportunities for Orlando’s Facundo Torres.
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The Opponent
Orlando City SC are currently sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, the final playoff spot with first round home field advantage. However, they still have plenty to fight for in their final nine games. The Lions are tied on points with second-placed Philadelphia and third-placed New England, albeit with one more game played. On the flipside, they are a mere one point clear of Columbus and two points ahead of Atlanta, and so are in danger of losing home field advantage.
Their key man continues to be winger and Designated Player Facundo Torres, who scored his third brace of the season last time out against St. Louis. That puts him one behind Cyle Larin for most multi-goal games in a single season for Orlando.
While Orlando have seen good success throughout 2023, Charlotte FC have had their number in both meetings so far this year. The Crown got their first win of the season away at Orlando in March then defeated them again in the U.S. Open Cup in May at Matthews Sportsplex. All four matches all-time between the two clubs have been decided by a single goal margin, so expect a tight match yet again at Bank of America Stadium.
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The Season So Far
Charlotte FC’s second season got off to a tough start, with one win, three draws, and five losses in the opening eight matches. However, the Crown were able to stabilize in an extremely congested April and May, rattling off five straight wins at home in the league and the U.S. Open Cup. Over the course of the summer, wins were hard to come by, but the team kept themselves in touching distance of the playoffs with five draws in their last six games before the Leagues Cup break.
Leagues Cup served as a great reset for Charlotte FC. One penalty shootout win and one outright win put them through to the knockout stage as group winners, where CLTFC won two straight road games before falling to eventual champions Inter Miami in the quarterfinals.
Head Coach Christian Lattanzio’s side will be looking to carry that tournament momentum over to the last third of the MLS regular season and have gotten off to a great start in that regard with last week’s victory over LAFC.
