Lack of attacking finesse plagues Charlotte FC in 0-0 draw to Montréal

Fans in the stands at Bank of America Stadium went for a ride on an emotional roller coaster of the highest highs, followed by the lowest of frustrating lows.

Over and over again.

It’s not that Charlotte FC didn’t have scoring opportunities in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against CF Montréal — its third draw in a row. Thirteen shots, good for four on goal, and 66.8% passing in the attacking half would answer to that.

But what looked to be golden chances in and around the box more often than not went awry on the last touch of the play, turning bouts of excitement into exasperated sighs the entire 90 minutes.

“Our job as a coaching staff is to bring the team in the last third offensively,” said Charlotte head coach Christian Lattanzio. “Then in the last third it’s up to them…They have to come up with the goods.”

Too often the lack of finesse was detrimental to Charlotte’s work in the final third. Of 17 CFC crosses into the penalty area, only a quarter connected, and even fewer turned into shots on goal.

It happened in the middle of the first half, when Karol Swiderski sent a slip pass through two Montreal defender’s to put Justin Meram in perfect position to finish on the left near post. Except, he fell short and sent the pass ricocheting off the gloves of Montreal keeper Jonathan Sirois.

It happened in the final six minutes, when Mackenzie Gaines outworked his defender on the left edge of the box and sent in a pinpoint cross off Swiderski’s head…only for the chance to fall right into the hands of Sirois.

Montreal wasn’t tapping on the door, either, its frontmen largely shut down by Charlotte’s defense. A team not known to be particularly good on the road (until tonight, Montreal was 1-8-1 away), Montreal managed three shots on goal but couldn’t finish.

Yet, despite a solid defensive performance — though a performance in which it struggled to play it out of the back at times — finishing up top is the way to win games, and Charlotte simply couldn’t do that tonight.

“I think the defense actually did a really good job,” said defender Jaylin Lindsey. “We just have to finish our chances, we had plenty of chances. It’s just about getting the ball in the back of the net.”