Lock Down Defensively | Ingredients of the Match: Charlotte FC at Sporting Kansas City

After another week off, Charlotte FC return to the pitch for two consecutive road matches before finally returning home to Bank of America Stadium.

The Crown look to tighten things up and improve on the road mark against Sporting KC and Chicago after dropping points in the 98th minute to Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union on June 14.

Despite dropping three points in Chester, Charlotte are looking better defensively and Designated Player Wilfried Zaha seems to hitting his stride at the right moment.

Here are the Ingredients of the Match for Charlotte FC to pick up three points in Kansas:

Let Winger Wilf Wander

Charlotte’s matchup against Philadelphia seemed to be a well-earned road point as Wilfried Zaha hit a late equalizer in the 78th minute only to give up a Union goal in the 98th. The Designated Player found his goal in the box off a Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty cross.

Zaha has been able to find more success recently by attacking both the wing and floating in the middle. His comfortability of his movements have allowed him to record six goal contributions (3G/3A) in the last eight matches, including four in the last four (1G/3A).

His ability to float has opened more spaces for his teammates up top to allow for more opportunities. Even though the month of May was madness in terms of scheduling, Zaha’s positive strides on the field has benefitted the team. Charlotte FC has scored in eight-straight matches, including four multi-goal performances.

Lock Down Defensively

Sporting KC, despite sitting 13th in the Western Conference, has been a tough task to beat at Children’s Mercy Park under interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin. SKC owns a 2-2-1 mark at home under Zavagnin and has scored in all five matches with four of them being multi-goal performances.

Charlotte looked to get over the defensive woes hump with a clean sheet at Toronto, which was the first one in 10 matches across all competitions. However, two goals at Philly, including the dagger in the 98th minute seemed to bring back bad memories.

With the return of Souleyman Doumbia at the left back position to allow Marshall-Rutty in his more comfortable side on the right, The Crown may get more consistency at the back. Charlotte will like more consistency on the backline, having seen 11 different backline pairings across all competitions before the Philadelphia match.