Charlotte FC playing like a contender going into Wednesday’s match at Columbus

Charlotte FC missed a huge chance to take points off the best team in the MLS when it was beaten by Inter Miami on July 3 at home.

When it traveled on Saturday to Cincinnati, which had since dismantled Inter Miami and taken the top spot in the league, the Queen City side didn’t make the same mistake.

While its loss to a shorthanded Inter Miami revealed Charlotte FC has more room to grow after its best start to a season, a 3-1 road win at Cincinnati FC on Saturday showed this year’s squad can compete with the league’s best under first-year coach Dean Smith.

Saturday’s victory puts Charlotte in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 11 regular season games to go. The Queen City side’s 35 points is just two behind fourth place and nine ahead of ninth place — the final qualification spot for MLS playoffs.

“It was a statement performance,” Ashley Westwood said. “The manager said before the game we’ve got three away games, three tough games, before a break and then we’ve only got nine games left to make a real push toward the playoffs. I think tonight we’ve come here and really put on a performance. The first 35, 40 minutes, I thought we were outstanding.”

With two more regular season matches before a long break for Leagues Cup, Charlotte will look to use the momentum from Saturday’s victory to complete a crucial stretch this week with more positive results entering Leagues Cup play.

Those two upcoming regular season games include Wednesday’s contest at reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus, which has won its last five matches by a combined 18 goals, and an away match at Austin FC on Saturday.

Charlotte FC won’t play another MLS game until Aug. 24 after its matchup in Austin, with its Leagues Cup campaign beginning with group stage games at Philadelphia Union on July 27 and at home against Liga MX side Cruz Azul on July 31.

The Queen City side’s recent stretch of three away games in four contests started with a 2-0 win over Philadelphia Union before a 1-0 loss in Houston in June. Charlotte squandered a chance to take points off an Inter Miami team without Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at home, falling 2-1 to a late Benjamin Cremaschi goal , but Saturday’s win in Cincinnati was different.

Iuri Tavares, filling in at striker for the suspended Patrick Agyemang, fired Westwood’s cross into the back of the net for the game’s opening goal and the second MLS tally of his career in the 20th minute.

“I thought he was the type of striker that we would need for this game and he fully deserved the first goal that he scored,” Smith said. “I thought some of his play was really good in the first 35 minutes.”

Liel Abada made it 2-0 just two minutes later with his first goal since June 2, receiving another Westwood pass and quickly firing a shot that found the top left corner.

Cincinnati FC’s Lucho Acosta scored in first-half stoppage time to make it 2-1 and had a chance to equalize from the penalty spot early in the second half, but goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina made a diving save to maintain Charlotte’s advantage.

Kerwin Vargas converted off a Westwood corner kick in the 66th minute to double Charlotte’s lead and drew a Cincinnati red card minutes later that allowed the Queen City side to close out the 3-1 win.

Westwood’s three-assist performance earned him MLS player of the matchday honors. Charlotte’s captain became the club’s first player to earn the honor since Brandon Cambridge in May 2023.

“He was excellent today, a real captain’s performance, which is what we’ve come to expect of him,” Smith said.

Standout performances across the field lifted Charlotte to a crucial win that firmly places them among the top teams in the Eastern Conference. While Cincinnati FC, Inter Miami and Columbus Crew hold a firm grip on the top three spots, Charlotte FC is comfortably in the playoff picture for the first time in the club’s three-year history.

With the return of the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in Karol Swiderski , who will wear the No. 9 jersey and be eligible to play on Saturday — and room for the club to add another designated player and more during the upcoming transfer window — Charlotte’s victory against Cincinnati could be one of many catalysts during their final postseason push.

“It was a good follow-up performance to the Inter Miami game,” Smith said, “Cincinnati have just beat them 6-1, so to come here and beat them 3-1 … it’s really pleasing.”