How Abada that to clinch a playoff spot?
Three goals, one man – Liel Abada.
Abada came on the pitch in the 65th minute and quickly made his mark, scoring three times in his first 18 minutes. The performance was Abada’s second career hat trick, the third in Charlotte FC history, and the third-fastest in MLS history. The three-goal output helped lift The Crown to a 4-0 win against CF Montréal, clinching a playoff spot for the fourth consecutive season.
Abada was also named Player of the Matchday by MLS for the performance and joined Head Coach Dean Smith and Idan Toklomati on Team of the Matchday.
“It's really special, to be honest,” Abada said. “It’s really special to score a hat trick, for every striker, every winger, every player to score a hat trick. Thank you very much for the team who helped me, to the staff that pushed me every day to be the best.”
Abada almost immediately made an impact, scoring in the 67th minute via a Djibril Diani pass he fired past the Montréal keeper. His second goal of the match was assisted by Toklomati, someone he has been able to build chemistry with not just on the club level.
Abada and Toklomati both played for the Israeli national team during the September-October international break and trained and played with one another while MLS’ calendar was largely on hold.
That chemistry paid off against Montréal with Toklomati recognizing that Abada was making a run to the right, holding the ball up and playing a pass into the box where only his national team partner could get to.
“I just made the run, and he delayed a little bit and I'm really happy that he found me,” Abada said. “He's a great player, a great lad, and I really love him. We have a really good connection between each other and I'm really happy that he gave that assist and I hope we can make assists to each other more and more.”
The day before the match, Abada and Smith had a conversation about where the Israeli forward stood in the Gaffer’s mind. Abada was worried about his recent run of form and Smith worried about his right winger’s self-assurance after failing to register a goal contribution in five consecutive matches.
Despite Abada’s play dropping off from how he came out of the World Cup break, there was no doubt in the Gaffer’s mind about whether the Club had faith in their designated player.
“The last couple of games I felt that he just looked a little bit lacking of confidence that he was showing,” Smith said. “I told him there was no need, we believe in him. Be ready to come on and he agreed and said, ‘Yeah, I will be,’ and he was and he proved that today.”
With the tag of being a designated player, Abada has played at a high standard through his three years with Charlotte FC and has become a crucial part of The Crown’s attack.
With each season, Abada knows what Smith wants out of him and the talk between the two of them the day before the match was just a confirmation of that.
“I think we had a really good conversation between each other,” Abada said. “I knew what I wanted. I knew what he expected from me, and I'm really happy about this shot, to be honest and I'm really happy about today. Every minute I will get here, I will do my best. I will do my job.”
Abada has recorded 20 goals and nine assists with The Crown, always being a consistent contributor, but this season has been his best statistically.
After starting the season with a goal and three assists in nine matches, he found a rhythm post-World Cup break playing alongside Allan Saint-Maximin and Toklomati. In the 10 matches leading up to his scoreless streak, Abada had six goal contributions (4G+2A) and was finding his flow.
“I sat with him yesterday afternoon, and he'll tell you himself, he's been a really impressive player since the World Cup break,” Smith said. “He's come back, scored goals, made assists.”
He hit a snag across the five-match scoreless period before but broke out against Montréal in a big way with the hat trick, bringing his season total to eight goals – a best for him with Charlotte FC.
“It’s like I didn't play well and it was a hard situation for me, but I tried to keep it strong,” Abada said. “I try to work hard every day in training. I try to learn every day, and after the World Cup break, I had a really good opportunity that the gaffer gave me.”
Before Abada came into the match, he saw that Charlotte FC was having a lot of chances in the attacking third but couldn’t build on a 1-0 lead they achieved in the seventh minute. The Crown had eight shots prior to Abada’s substitution, but Toklomati’s goal was the only one that found its mark.
As such, Abada knew that there were going to be chances for him to break through the defense and bring a different playstyle into The Crown attack.
“I think that it was a lot of attacking transition for us in the first half,” Abada said. “When the second half is beginning, I knew I would have the opportunity to go there to find the space. I'm really happy that I found it. For me, the most important thing is every minute that I get here, to be myself.”
Abada capped off the hat trick with a one-two between him and Pep Biel. Abada began the sequence by passing to Biel on the edge of the box, who in turn played Abada inside and into a position where he could put power behind a first-time shot.
With Abada running towards Biel on the touchline, Abada connected his pointer finger and thumb and held up his hand to signify the three goals he scored before hugging Biel with a giant grin on his face.
“(Liel Abada) didn't have the best of times in Portland, but he's come on the pitch today and had three great finishes, three great runs as well,” Smith said. “Really pleased for him.”
Abada’s hat trick against Montréal was a testament to his skill and the trust placed in him by Smith. His high-scoring night sealed a playoff spot for Charlotte FC and displayed the strength and quality of The Crown heading into the tail end of the regular season as they push for a top four spot in the postseason.
“I try to just play and to be myself, help the team to achieve our target to play good,” Abada said. “There are a lot of players that score goals and assists, and it's really good. It shows a healthy team and we make sure we will keep doing that, it doesn't matter who scores, who makes the assists. We just need to be together and just keep doing what we do.”
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