Karol Swiderski keeps rolling as Charlotte FC blank CF Montreal
Karol Swiderski maintained his impressive late-season form by scoring in the first half and host Charlotte FC extended their unbeaten run, topping CF Montreal 2-0 on Saturday night.
Patrick Agyemang also scored for Charlotte (13-11-9, 48 points), which has not lost in its past four matches (3-0-1). It sits in fifth in the Eastern Conference with just one regular-season match remaining.
Montreal (10-13-10, 40 points) lost for the first time in six matches (4-1-1), and its three-match winning streak came to an end. CF Montreal's last loss was on Aug. 31 against FC Cincinnati.
Charlotte broke a scoreless deadlock through Swiderski in the 34th minute after a low, driven ball from Liel Abada from outside the box forced Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois to make the initial save. But Sirois couldn't cleanly deal with the strike, and Swiderski slid in to poke the rebound into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
It was Swiderski's fourth goal in three matches, increasing his season total to six goals in just nine matches.
Agyemang scored deep into second-half stoppage time, with his ninth goal of the year securing three points for Charlotte FC.
Meanwhile, Montreal, which currently sits only three points above the playoff line in the East, failed to generate any consistent opportunities on the attack that would challenge Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina.
Overall, Charlotte FC ended with a 12-8 edge in shots, with six attempts on target to CF Montreal's one.
Kahlina was forced to make just one save, on Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty's shot in the 55th minute. Sirois was credited with four saves in the setback.
Charlotte FC have now won their past three home matches to finish the regular season with a 9-3-5 record on their own pitch. Montreal will finish the campaign with a 3-9-5 road record.
