Liel Abada, an Israel national team winger, came off the bench in the 65th minute Wednesday night and scored two minutes later, taking a pass from midfielder Djibril Diani near the top of the penalty area and hitting a right-footed shot into the left corner. He scored again in the 79th minute and again in the 83rd. Charlotte FC beat CF Montréal 4-0 at Bank of America Stadium and is in the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
It was the third hat trick in club history and the fastest, the club said. Pep Biel, a midfielder, assisted on all three goals. Forward Idan Toklomati, Abada's Israel teammate, faked his defender and slipped a pass through for the second. For the third, defender Nathan Byrne forced a turnover, and Abada combined with Biel to finish it.
Charlotte (14-10-8) has 50 points and is fifth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind fourth-place Chicago Fire FC, according to MLS's official standings. Coach Dean Smith and Abada both said the target is a top-four finish, and Smith said it will probably take "four points at least" from the last two matches.
Abada "didn't have the best of times in Portland," where Charlotte lost 3-2 on a header in stoppage time on Saturday, Smith said. He said he sat down with him on Tuesday and told him "we believed in him" and to "be ready to come on." Abada called the hat trick "really, really special."
Smith was blunt about the first hour. "We stunk the place out for 60 minutes, we weren't good enough," he said. "From 60 minutes on, I thought we were really good, and that's more of what we should be."
Charlotte had led since the seventh minute, when Toklomati scored, set up by forward Allan Saint-Maximin and Diani. It was Toklomati's fifth straight match with a goal, a club record according to the club, and his 15th league goal of the season, extending the club record he set Oct. 17.
After the match, a reporter asked Smith whether Abada had earned the league's weekly honor. Smith said he wasn't sure it goes to "players who only play 30 minutes." On Thursday, Abada was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Matchday for the first time, and Smith was named Coach of the Matchday.
Smith said taking captain Ashley Westwood off was planned. Westwood has been playing through an injury to the soleus, a calf muscle, and Smith said a scan showed a little damage. Midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure, the former Everton player Charlotte signed this month, made his debut in the 84th minute.
Charlotte closes its home schedule Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern against seventh-place Orlando City, on Apple TV, and ends the regular season Nov. 7 at Inter Miami.