Charlotte FC Stock Up, Stock Down: Swiderski scores, Kahlina shows why he is the GKOTY

By Sam Vanolinda

Kristijan Kahlina (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)

Charlotte FC took good momentum from its 4-0 win versus New England last week and converted it into a solid performance against East-leading Inter Miami on the road.

Although the Crown could not pick up three points, they tied 1-1 against Messi and the rest of the star-studded roster down in the bandwagon capital of America.

The team came out of the gates playing positive football. It was a back-and-forth game throughout, usually with Miami attacking the Charlotte goal and then Dean Smith’s team counterattacking effectively. 

Świderski was able to break his dry streak when Brandt Bronico’s edge-of-the-box shot was deflected and landed right on his feet. It was an instinctual quick reaction for the Polishman to direct the ball into the net in the 57th minute.

After some steady pressure on the Charlotte goal and some great shot-stopping by Kahlina, some little-known Argentinian winger scored with his left foot, when given too much space outside the penalty area; evening the game at 1-1 in the 67th minute.

Both teams had chances to take the game after that, but the game finished deadlocked.

Here’s the stock up/down against Miami.

Stock Up

Karol Świderski

Świderski was able to secure the crucial goal Saturday night. I’m sure it felt good to be back scoring for the Polish DP after some tough recent games.

His performance in general wasn’t extraordinary, but his goal was enough to raise his stock. 

He only had 14 total touches, I would like to see him come short receive the ball, and turn toward the attack more like he did at the end of last season.

With that being said, his goal was crucial and was the reason the team gained a point on Saturday in a tough place to play.

Júnior Urso

Urso is a player that should maintain a spot on the team for the rest of the year.

He has the experience and quality in the center of the field to help create attacking opportunities and also has defensive skills as well.

37/40 passing (93%) with one chance created, four passes into the final third, five recoveries, and six duels won.

The stats won't be eye-popping, but he is solid and composed on the ball, and does a great job for the Crown.

Kristijan Kahlina

Mr. Consistent strikes again with another point-saving performance. Who knows where Charlotte would be if they didn’t have a guy like him in goal.

Seven saves, with 2.64 xGOT faced (expected goals on target) and only one goal allowed, which was a pretty unsavable shot by the greatest athlete in the history of sports.

Kahlina’s on-the-ball skills haven’t been the best, but he was also 83% on passing. He had four diving saves and five saves inside the box.

When Miami was pressing so high, creating chance after chance, he was a guardian who kept Charlotte in the game and even helped the team to counterattack.

Stock Down

Pep Biel

Biel had another low-impact performance. While he had a strong performance last week against New England that has been the only strong showing so far during his loan spell. When you combine his shots and chances created in his other four starts, besides last week’s showing, it totals seven. Far from enough end product consistently.

This isn’t all on Biel. He was only given nine games to work with. But, those games are running out. He has three more regular-season opportunities to drive the point home that he is worth signing permanently. Three strong performances in a row are necessary. He is in luck that Charlotte’s final opponents are all below the playoff line, and two are at home, so the schedule is on his side.

Summary

Charlotte is still in seventh place in the East. The goal is to get to fifth or higher to avoid the three powerhouse teams that top the conference, Miami, Columbus, and Cincinnati. 

The team returns to the bank for a midweek matchup against 15th-place Chicago. This game is a must-win.