Patrick Agyemang and Liel Abada each scored their first goal of the season after halftime and Charlotte FC eased to a 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati on Saturday night.
Abada and Agyemang’s goals came in the space of four minutes before the hour mark. Two matches ago, Pep Biel and Wilfried Zaha scored in the space of six minutes at a similar stage in a 2-0 win over Atlanta United.
Kristijan Kahlina made eight stops to preserve his second clean sheet for Charlotte (2-1-1, 7 points) and continue building on his 2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year campaign.
Cincinnati (2-2-0, 6 points) was shut out for the first time this season in eight games across all competitions, having lost 3-1 at Tigres UANL in CONCACAF Champions Cup play on Tuesday night.
Cincy saw 2022 U.S. World Cup center back Miles Robinson exit before halftime with an apparent leg injury, and finished with 10 men after Gilberto Flores received his second yellow card in the 83rd minute.
Evander came closest to scoring for Cincinnati when his free kick later in the second half struck Kahlina’s right post.
But Cincy fell to a fourth consecutive road defeat in all competitions, having conceded 10 goals across those games.
Agyemang had 10 goals last season and entered with heightened expectations after a promising spell with the U.S. national team in January.
And on a week that he learned he would again suit up for the U.S. in next week’s CONCACAF Nations League matches, he registered his first goal of the new campaign to make it 2-0.
It was a very direct goal, with Adilson Malanda playing out from the back to Biel, and Biel sending a throughball to Agyemang running at Cincy’s center backs.
Agyemang took his chance well, driving a low strike on the run past Roman Celentano.
Four minutes earlier, a defensive mistake from Cincinnati resulted in a 2-on-0 break. With Zaha running to his left, Abada instead opted to go for goal himself and drove a low effort past Celentano, who had little chance.
–Field Level Media
