NYCFC, Red Bulls Fall On Road

 

NYCFC's Hannes Wolf in action Saturday night in Charlotte. Photo by Jason Schott.

Saturday night was a tough one for the local MLS soccer teams, as New York City Football Club was shutout at Charlotte FC, 2-0, while the Red Bulls also fell, 2-0, to the Philadelphia Union. 

NYCFC is now 9-4-8, with 31 points, in seventh place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings, while the Red Bulls are right behind them with 30 points (8-6-8), and Charlotte moved into ninth with 29 points and a record of 9-2-11. Philadelphia moved into first place with 43 points and a mark of 13-4-5.

Charlotte FC 2, NYCFC 0: Charlotte got on the board early in this one, as Idan Toklomati buried one from the center of the box, off a feed from Pep Biel, in the 14th minute.

NYCFC had their chances, as they poured in 15 shots, four on target, but they never could get the equalizer.

Charlotte put the game away in the 81st minute when Kerwin Vargas buried one into the top left corner of the net to make it 2-0.

Kristihan Kahlina earned the clean for Charlotte, as he made four saves.

Philadelphia 2, Red Bulls 0: Philadelphia got a corner kick in the ninth minute, and they made the most of it. Kai Wagner took it, and it deflected towards the net before Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel saved it. However, Coronel could not corral it, and Indiana Vassilev buried it in the roof of the net.

It didn't take long for them to double their lead on a well-executed play started by Tai Baribo, who then found midfielder Quinn Sullivan, who dropped it off to Bruno Damiani, and he buried it in the side of the net.

Andre Blake earned the clean sheet for Philadelphia, as he only had to make one save. The Red Bulls had just one shot on goal, while they had eight overall.

Philadelphia poured in 17 shots, including five on target, with Coronel making three saves.

Red Bulls defender Sean Nealis made his 177th appearance for the team across all competitions, which puts him into sole possession of sixth place in appearances in franchise history.

Fun fact: Charlotte's Head Coach is named Dean Smith, sharing the name of the legendary North Carolina Tar Heels basketball coach.