Charlotte FC suffers crippling back-to-back defeats after their 0 – 4 loss against a newly inspired Toronto FC side. New signings Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi completely changed the dynamic of their team and Charlotte did not have an answer.
Toronto blitzed Charlotte right out of the gates which seemed to have shocked a lulled Charlotte side. Teams create their own luck, and Toronto did just that for their opening goal in the 4th minute. A clearance in the box from Guzmán Corujo bounced off Johnathan Osorio and it could have ended up anywhere, but it ended up in the back of the net.
Six minutes later, Toronto earned a corner off their continued pressure of the Crown. Michael Bradley was on the end of the Bernardeschi corner and headed in Toronto’s second goal. Things looked like they couldn’t get worse for CLTFC but it was just the beginning of a long night.
Still in the first half, Bernardeschi opened up his scoring account for his club with a stunner from outside the box in 32nd minute. Toronto then added a fourth before the second half from a bit of silky play from Bradley.
How a team responds in the second half to a start like that could be anyone’s guess. In Charlotte's case, they responded well. The Crown looked like a completely different team in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
However, this surge was short-lived when in the 65th minute CLTFC defender Christian Fuchs received a red card for stopping a Toronto counter attack. In that same sequence, Kamil Jóźwiak, had to be helped off the pitch due to injury. To say Charlotte had a rough night would be putting it lightly.
Mentality
It was apparent from the opening minutes that CLTFC were not as mentally share as their opponents. There was a lack of urgency, opposing runs weren’t being tracked, and the team looked lethargic. For whatever reason, the motivation didn’t seem to be there and a red-hot Toronto took advantage.
With the boost from their new signings and a packed stadium behind them, Toronto was the complete opposite. Their energy levels were through the roof and scoring that early only amplified the energy. It created a snowball effect that Charlotte just didn’t have an answer to.
Despite having a good response in the second half, the match was all but won in the first half by Toronto. The saving grace for Charlotte is that they return home for three straight matches as they look to regroup and respond in front of their fans.
