Liel Abada recorded a hat trick in a span of 16 minutes in the second half after entering as a substitute, and Charlotte FC easily secured a playoff spot with a 4-0 victory over visiting CF Montreal on Wednesday night.
Abada notched the third hat trick in team history by scoring in the 67th, 79th and 83rd minutes as Charlotte (14-10-8, 50 points) clinched its fourth straight playoff spot by capitalizing on numerous breakdowns by Montreal (6-19-7, 25 points).
Idan Toklomati scored for the fifth straight game in the seventh minute and assisted on Abada’s second goal. Pep Biel collected three assists and Djibril Diani contributed two assists as Charlotte halted a three-game winless skid (0-3-1).
Toklomati scored his 15th goal and for the seventh time in eight games rather easily thanks to a Montreal defensive breakdown in the box. He moved to the center of the box and when Montreal’s Brayan Vera slipped trying to defend Allan Saint-Maximin’s pass from the left side, Toklomati easily tapped in a header past goalie Samsy Keita into the middle of the net.
Abada made it 2-0 when he ran about 35 yards down the left side untouched on a 4-on-3 transition play for Charlotte, took a precise pass from Diani and hooked a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner before a defender could react in time.
In the 79th, Abada took a pass from Toklomati and lifted a left-footed shot from the center of the box past Keita. He finished his biggest career MLS game with a give-and-go with Biel and a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the middle of the net.
Charlotte reached four goals for the second time this season and earned its second-most lopsided win thanks to Abada.
Charlotte goalie Kristijan Kahlina had an easy shutout as his only save was a diving stop on Hennadiy Synchuk in the 22nd minute.
Montreal saw its winless skid reach five games (0-4-1) and was blanked for the 13th time this season.
Keita permitted four goals on seven shots as Charlotte finished with 13 shot attempts.
–Field Level Media
