Charlotte FC will look to take a step closer to a second straight berth in the playoffs with a victory against host CF Montreal on Saturday.
Charlotte (10-9-8, 38 points), in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and a point behind New York City FC for fifth, is winless in its last four matches (0-1-3).
After following a 1-1 draw against the New York Red Bulls with a 1-0 loss to Atlanta United on Aug. 31, Charlotte will be looking for a bounceback performance north of the border with seven matches remaining.
“We were disappointed with the result against Atlanta in the last game, but I thought the performance was actually better than the Red Bull game,” Charlotte head coach Dean Smith said. “I didn’t think we deserved to lose, but I didn’t think we deserved to win the game. But we’re at that stage of the season now where we need to step up quickly.”
Charlotte could be without leading scorer Patrick Agmeyang (seven goals), who stubbed his toe in training and is a “slight doubt” for Saturday, per Smith.
Montreal (6-12-9, 27 points), needing a win to rescue its fading playoff hopes, enters the night five points out of a postseason spot — but needing to leapfrog four teams to get there.
It has lost three straight matches, including the last two by a combined score of 9-1.
“There’s moments where we did good things (but) we didn’t really reward ourselves because we let stuff slip away from us for lack of concentration,” said Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois. “I think we have enough quality (and) we showed we were capable, just sometimes the guys forget how positive they could be at times.”
Montreal will honor all-time goals leader Ignacio Piatti before the match, perhaps adding even more motivation for the team to end their skid.
“He’s deserved it with a great career that he’s had. When you have the backing of the fans and something special like that happens at night, you kind of, as a player, want to perform and not … kill the mood of how important the night is,” said Montreal midfielder Bryce Duke.
Piatti, a three-time MLS All-Star, scored 66 goals for Montreal from 2014-19. His 135 regular-season appearances rank fourth in club history.
–Field Level Media
