Charlotte FC dominates DC United to prove how far it has come since inaugural match

It only took 13 minutes to show how far Major League Soccer’s newest team had come.

Charlotte FC, thanks to a beautiful left-legged cross by Joseph Mora and a firm header by Karol Swiderski and a few lucky ricochets off a couple D.C. United defenders, earned a lead it wouldn’t relinquish early in the first half. That goal was officially recognized as an own goal by United’s Steve Birnbaum, but it nonetheless sent CFC on its way to a dominant 3-0 win on Wednesday night in Bank of America Stadium.

The win reaffirmed what Charlotte has been saying it is: an explosive group with playoff-caliber tendencies at home. The club is now 8-3 at home and 9-12-2 overall — straddling the fence of the seven-team Eastern Conference playoff field.

But the win did more, too. It proved how much the Queen City organization had improved since its all-time first match — a 3-0 loss to D.C. United back in February.

“It just shows the growth of the team,” midfielder Quinn McNeill told reporters post-match. “That was the first game, and at a new club, there are always going to be difficult growing pains. In the season now, we have enough games under our belt, I think, that the team is coming together. So hopefully more performances like this should start coming our way.”

CFC’s starting 11 back on Feb. 26? Kristijan Kahlina (GK), Christian Makoun, Christian Fuchs, Guzman Corujo, Joseph Mora, Jaylin Lindsey, Alan Franco, Brandt Bronico, Yordy Reyna, McKenzie Gaines and Christian Ortiz.

Only six of those players — Kahlina (GK), Corujo, Mora, Bronico, Reyna and Gaines — were in Wednesday’s starting lineup. (Veteran defender Fuchs warmed up with the team but did not play, and Ortiz was waived by the club last week.) And it was led by a new head coach in interim Christian Lattanzio, who took over for Miguel Angel Ramirez, who was fired in May.

“We felt that when we played there, we didn’t deserve the score line,” head coach Christian Lattanzio said of Charlotte’s first match against United. “There was the goal that Titi Ortiz scored that was disallowed. And then we had a couple of deflections that (turned into goals). So I think the score line was very severe against us, and we didn’t deserve that.

“But yes, that was our first game in our history, so there was a lot of energy. But now it’s time to channel this energy, and I think that it shows the progress that this club has made.”

The other goals were courtesy of Swiderski (64th minute), his team-leading sixth of the season, and McNeill (67th minute), his first of the season.

Wednesday marked goalkeeper Kahlina’s eighth clean sheet on the year.

“Today was a completely different story,” Kahlina told The Observer post-match.

The goalkeeper mentioned that both sides changed their coaching staff — United fired Hernan Losada in April and eventually replaced him with now-retired English and Manchester United legendary forward Wayne Rooney — so it’s difficult to compare the two teams to where they were in February.

But, he added, “We showed a very good performance tonight, and I think we deserved it.”

Swiderski involved in each of three goals

Swiderski, occasionally and affectionately called Swi-goal-ski, only notched one goal in the box score. But he played a big role in each of Charlotte’s scores.

1. He loomed large in the first-half finish. His header put the pressure on D.C.’s back-line and caused the chaos and subsequent defending error.

2. Then the Polish attacker, of course, was the on the finishing end of the second goal. He cleaned up a beautiful and powerful two-touch strike by veteran defender Yordy Reyna, whose shot cut through the defense and forced a diving block from Rafael Romo. (Romo’s block landed at Swiderski’s feet for the open-net touch-in.)

3. And finally, not three minutes later, a contested Swiderski header broke the ice on an already cracked United defense — and the ball ricocheted to the right side to Gaines, who found McNeill for the score.

Swiderski began his career in his native Poland, his first professional contract with Jagiellonia Białystok. The 25-year-old arrived in Charlotte in January and has been a constant in a year of change and discovery for his club.

A milestone in McNeill’s unconventional rookie season

McNeill’s first MLS goal was a milestone in what he called a “long” first season of pro soccer.

The Clemson graduate went undrafted in 2021 before signing with CFC in April. He spent a lot of the 2022 season on loan with the Charlotte Independence of the United Soccer League.

“I wouldn’t say it’s traditional by any sense,” McNeill said of his journey from January to now.

Wednesday marked his seventh contest with the MLS club and his sixth overall start. The midfielder has notched a goal and an assist in that span.

“I want to prove myself every day, day in and day out, and the club here trusted me,” he said. “They said, ‘You’ll get your chance at some point with Independence.’ And so I just kept playing there, believing in myself, and now I’m here, reaping the benefits.”

Brian Romero homegrown star

Brian Romero, whose contribution to CFC’s electric exhibition upset over Chelsea put him in Charlotte sports lore as only a 16-year-old, signed with the club on Wednesday.

The midfielder was honored on the field at halftime Wednesday night. He has signed through 2026 with an option for 2027, per the club. The native of Concord, North Carolina, joined the club’s academy in 2020 and has impressed with the club’s U17 group.

NASCAR’s Kurt Busch makes appearance at Charlotte FC match

Even before Charlotte FC’s win, the organization had already made a new fan.

Charlotte resident and NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch, who has missed the last two races due to a concussion, was in Bank of America Stadium on Wednesday night. In a video he shared on Twitter, he gave a message to NASCAR fans from the supporter section.

“Sorry NASCAR fans,” Busch began. “I wanted to get to the race this weekend, but my vision and my hearing are still not 100% to drive. Doctors said to get in loud, busy places, so I came to Charlotte FC. ...

“I love you NASCAR fans. We’ll be back soon.”

Busch is the latest Charlotte sports celebrity to show his support for the MLS expansion club. New quarterback Baker Mayfield and star receiver DJ Moore, among other Carolina Panthers, showed up and took pictures with fans at the Chelsea exhibition match in July.