Charlotte FC marched into Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the I-85 derby and left with all three points on Saturday, but it was the 5 Stripes that struck first.  Tristan Muyumba left no chance for Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, perfectly heading in a cross from Bartosz Slisz in the 19th minute— a lead the home team would take into the halftime break.  We’d all love to know what was said in both of the locker rooms at the break, but it was clear within a minute of the whistle to start the second half that Charlotte came out of the break more motivated.  Kerwin Vargas slipped a teasing ball behind Atlanta’s back line which found Idan Toklomati who somehow slipped in the equalizer past Brad Guzan.  Kahlina made an incredible save 10 minutes later to deny Muyumba his brace, shifting the momentum back in Charlotte’s favor.  Just five minutes later, two passes sliced through the heart of the Atlanta defense, and a clever touch and a display of some power from Wilfried Zaha set him up to put Charlotte into the lead, one which they wouldn’t give up.  Kahlina answered the call once again in the 71st minute, stonewalling a shot from Atlanta star Miguel Almiron.  Pep Biel added the winner in the 77th, slotting home a cutback cross from Wilfried Zaha to put the game out of reach for the hosts.  Emmanuel Latte Lath netted a goal in the 86th minute cutting the Charlotte lead to one, finishing off a wonderful pattern of play in the attacking box.  Latte Lath’s 7th goal of the season would be only a consolation as the game finished 3-2 to The Crown.

July marked a fresh start for The Crown, after losing nine of their past 11 games heading into the month, they’re unbeaten in the last four.  Sitting in 7th place, they’re narrowly avoiding the play in game.  They’ve kept themselves above the playoff line for most of the season and have shown the ability to play with anyone on their day, although they do have a fair bit of inconsistency.  Fact of the matter is, they’ve allowed almost as many goals at this point in the season than their staunch defense did all of last season (39 currently, 40 last season).  They’ll welcome a new look Toronto FC on Saturday, hoping the winning ways will continue.

Where to begin with Atlanta… We’ll get into them more in the recap, but the long and short of it is, they haven’t had nearly enough production from all the cash they threw around in the offseason and they haven’t won a game away from the comfort of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.  They’ve conceded 43 goals, which puts them third worst in the East, exactly where they sit in the table.  The Seattle Sounders are next up for Atlanta, who will be looking to break their seven match winless streak.

Charlotte’s media team love basking in the glory of a derby win, so just enjoy these:

Charlotte FC has been a streaky team this year, and it wasn’t much different throughout the game in Atlanta last week.  They’ve have two really good spells of form on either side of a long winless streak.  After taking 19 points from their first nine games, they took just seven points from their next 11.  Since then, they tied Orlando City and won all three games last week.  I mentioned how their defense isn’t quite as stingy as it was last season— The first Atlanta United goal last weekend was the type of goal 2024 Charlotte would never have conceded.  Charlotte FC prided themselves on defending the box, however they were fairly vulnerable when Atlanta was in crossing positions.  The opening goal of the match was really a simple cross and finish in the box, and none of the defenders seemed interested in marking the attackers.

No pressure on the ball and not marking runners in the box is a perfect recipe for conceding goals on crosses.  This would continue throughout the second half when Atlanta were chasing the game.  Kristijan Kahlina made a pair of fantastic saves that came from simple Atlanta United crosses in the box.  Here’s one:

When Charlotte are at their best, they’re almost inviting crosses into the box.  The defenders are dominant in the air and Kahlina is very comfortable staying back on his line and reacting to shots when the center backs don’t quite get there.

In the attack, Charlotte can score in a variety of ways.  Recently, they’ve been dangerous whipping balls across the face of goal from deep positions— that’s how they scored their first against Atlanta as well as their first a couple of games ago against NYCFC.

Plays like these are so difficult to defend for a couple reasons.  It’s extremely difficult to make plays on the ball when you’re in the box facing your own goal (that’s why you see so often these plays resulting in own goals.

Charlotte’s new DP Wilfried Zaha also gives them a completely different dimension.  He’s big, strong, and loves to take players on with the ball.  Just in case people forgot, here’s what he can do:

Toss in Pep Biel, who’s quietly on the fringe of the MVP conversation.  If Charlotte were having a slightly better year, he’d be right in the heart of it.  10 goals and 11 assists for a grand total of 21 goal contributions is among the best in the league, and this guy is dynamite in the box.  He’s so good in tight spaces, especially in the box, plus he’s got a really quick release when he shoots.

It seems like the story for Charlotte FC this season will be whether or not they get hot at the right time.  At the end of the day, that’s what MLS is really about.  The teams that are in the best form come the end of the season always tend to make deep runs in the playoffs.  There’s absolutely no reason that can’t be Charlotte this year.  As long as they can tidy up some defending, goals will come for their talented attack, and we could see Charlotte join Orlando in that “teams nobody wants to see come playoff time” category.

I’m not really even sure how to dive into Atlanta’s problems, and we don’t have the time or the space to dissect it all, so I think I’ll keep this one brief.  I don’t think Atlanta are that far off, actually.  Yes, they’ve spent more than $50 million in new talent leading up to this season.  Yes, they brought back the best player who’s ever played for the club in Miguel Almiron.  Yes, they brought in a top tier striker who is an absolute freak of an athlete.  What they don’t seem to have is a true game plan.  I’m not really sure what their identity is, to be honest.  They aren’t necessarily difficult to break down, they don’t really effectively keep steady possession or play on the counter attack, and they’re not particularly good on set pieces.  They almost have this “pass the ball to the Italians” (Kicking and Screaming) vibe when it comes to Latte Lath, Almiron, Miranchuk, and Lobjanidze— “here, you guys will figure it out.” They almost play like Inter Miami, minus the quality and chemistry of their stars.  The four of them have combined for 13 goals and 12 assists this season.  For reference, the top three in the Golden Boot race (Messi/25 goal contributions, Surridge/21 goal contributions, and Evander/23 goal contributions) are putting up similar numbers BY THEMSELVES.  Atlanta hasn’t gotten near the production they expected from their attacking stars.

Another of Atlanta United’s biggest issues has been closing out the first half and starting the second.  Per footystats.org, 46% of the goals Atlanta has conceded this year fall between the 41st and 60th minute.  Use your imagination to why that’s the case, because I haven’t got a clue.

It’s all too possible that Atlanta’s stars could start to find their chemistry and be the lethal group everyone feared in the preseason.  They could increase the focus before and after halftime and clean up that period of the game.  Those are both big ifs, as we’re 2/3rds of the way through the season, but don’t fall asleep on Atlanta in the future.  They have all the talent to be a force, they just have to find the best way to make it work.