Charlotte FC lost 4-1 at Orlando City on Wednesday night at Inter&Co Stadium, conceding three goals in a 38-minute window between the 49th minute and the 87th and breaking a stretch in which they had won four of their previous five matches.
The final scoreline was disproportionate to the run of play. Charlotte out-shot Orlando 15-11, held more of the ball, and drew even on chances for long stretches. Orlando scored four goals on six shots on target. That is the story.
The Scoring
The opener came in the 21st minute. Zakaria Taifi delivered a ball to Luís Otávio inside the box and Otávio finished past Kristijan Kahlina for his first professional goal.
Charlotte answered in the 33rd. Pep Biel swung in a corner and Morrison Agyemang headed it home. At the interval it was 1-1.
Three minutes after the restart, Orlando restored the lead. Justin Ellis and Tiago combined to find Martín Ojeda, who scored in the 49th minute. Twelve minutes later, Ojeda got his second — a direct free kick bent around the wall and past Kahlina at the near post. Then in the 87th, substitute Ignacio Gómez converted off an Iván Angulo assist for his first MLS goal. That made it 4-1.
The Math
Charlotte took 15 shots to Orlando's 11. Orlando put six of its shots on target and scored four of them. Charlotte put five of its shots on target and scored one. Possession, depending on the source, sat somewhere between 52 and 57 percent in Charlotte's favor.
Announced attendance was 16,089.
Tim Ream, Charlotte's veteran center back, did not play.
Orlando's interim head coach Luis Perelman, speaking after the match, kept his framing narrow. "I think the team is in process," he told reporters. "The performance…the message is the same: We are working."
That is a coach managing a team in transition being careful with his words. It is not a quote about Charlotte.
Where Charlotte Sits
Entering the Orlando match, Charlotte was 4-3-2 with 14 points and sat third in the Eastern Conference. They had been, by any reasonable reading, the hotter team — four wins in their last five, including a 2-1 road win at New York City FC on April 18 that Kahlina anchored with seven saves. Before that, a 2-1 home loss to Nashville SC on April 11 had been the only recent blemish.
The Orlando loss flattens the trajectory. Charlotte's record moves to 4-4-2. The points stay at 14 until the next result. The next result comes quickly.
What's Next
Charlotte plays at Nashville SC on Saturday, April 25, at GEODIS Park. Kick is 8:30 p.m. ET. It is the second leg of a three-match window that started at Orlando and will end at home against FC Cincinnati on May 9. Nashville, the team that beat Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium two weeks ago, gets them at home this time.
Orlando, for what it is worth to a Charlotte audience, travels to D.C. United on April 25 — the first of four consecutive road matches on their schedule.
The rematch with Nashville will say more about Charlotte than any one result at Orlando can.