Richmond Kickers 0, Charlotte Independence 1
| RICHMOND KICKERS | 0 | |
| CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE | 1 | 61’ Obregon Jr. (Belmar) |
RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Kickers’ (6-9-6, 24 pts) unbeaten streak ended at six matches after Charlotte Independence (8-6-7, 31 pts) with a man advantage nicked a 1-0 result, Saturday night.
Ryan Sierakowski registered the first shot on target of the night in the 12th minute. The forward received the ball on the left wing and dribbled into the penalty area before cutting to his right and hitting a low-driven shot that forced Charlotte goalkeeper Matt Levy to go to ground to make the save.
After Chandler O’Dwyer drew a foul on the right wing in the 17th, Maxi Schenfeld sent in a curling free kick into the penalty area that found the head of Dakota Barnathan. The captain’s attempt was directed on frame and forced a save from Levy.
A minute later, Charlotte’s Joel Johnson found space to take a shot from outside of the box and tried to curl it near post, but James Sneddon made a diving save to push the ball out of play.
Simon Fitch received a long cross out on the right wing, using his head to control the pass before it could go out of bounds in the 31st, sending the Kickers back on the attack. He quickly found Josh Kirkland in the penalty area with a pass. The forward turned on the ball and hit a left-footed shot toward the far post but his attempt went just barely over the crossbar.
In the 35th, Barnathan played a long ball into the penalty area as Chandler O’Dwyer drifted between two defenders. The pass found O’Dwyer and the Englishman quickly got a shot off but the charging Levy made the save. Kirkland would dribble up the right wing in the 36th before cutting inside at the backline. The forward picked out O’Dwyer again in the penalty area who laid the ball off to Zaca Moran. Moran found Sierakowski who ripped a low-driven shot toward the right inside post but his attempt slid just wide.
In the 41st minute, The Kickers went down to 10 men after Dakota Barnathan was issued a straight red card for a tackle after he and Charlotte’s Omar Ciss collided going for the ball.
Ten minutes of play later, Kirkland saw the next true opportunity for either team, dribbling into the penalty area with stepovers to create space before lacing a curling shot near post that forced a diving save.
Charlotte scored in the 61st, finding space in the middle of the pitch and sending Juan Carlos Obregon Jr. with a through ball who converted his one-on-one chance.
The Kickers continued to knock on the door despite being down a man. In the 87th, Nil Vinyals dribbled across Charlotte’s defensive third before finding Fitch with a chipped pass. The defender crossed in a lofted ball to the center of the penalty area to the waiting head of O’Dwyer but his attempt was saved by Levy.
In the 91st Fitch streaked up the right wing and squared a ball to Vinyals in stride who one-timed an attempt to the near post which forced a diving save from Levy.
The Kickers’ intensity kept pushing but a Charlotte counter saw Landon Johnson get tangled up with a Charlotte defender in the 92nd minute, earning him a second yellow card and forcing the Kickers down to nine men.
At the last second, the Kickers saw one more chance as O’Dwyer forced Levy to make another save after charging up the middle and firing a shot from outside of the box.
Despite being the player advantage for the visitors, the Kickers dominated the attacking stats, finishing with 9 of 12 shots on target and 0.92 xG to Charlotte’s 0.56 xG.
The Kickers begin their playoff run on Sunday, November 3 at No. 1 seed Union Omaha. Kickoff for the match is set for 5 p.m. ET. For the first time ever, a playoff watch party will be hosted at City Stadium using the new state-of-the-art videoboard. The event is free to attend and tickets can be requested here.
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