Charlotte FC supporters reminded the rest of MLS just how large, loud and proud their fanbase is on Saturday afternoon, as a spirited crowd of 51,002 packed sunny Bank of America Stadium for their 2025 home opener, producing the vibrant atmosphere that’s become their specialty since their 2022 arrival in the league.
And Wilfried Zaha reminded the world of his attacking talent on his debut, scoring one goal and laying the groundwork for the other as The Crown defeated I-85 rivals Atlanta United, 2-0, presenting a marker about their intentions to clamber into the MLS elite on the strength of his attacking excellence.
“I think it's a statement,” Zaha told MLS Season Pass post-game. “Me coming here to score goals, the whole team are working hard and we're just taking opportunities as well, so that shows to every other team in the league that we mean business this season.”
Game-changer
Atlanta United did a lot right in their approach to defending the Cote d’Ivoire-born, Crystal Palace-reared winger. Homegrown right back Matt Edwards was tenacious in his task in an overall cagey, balanced first half despite this being just his third career MLS match. The stats sheet shows Zaha took just one shot, was successful on only one of his five dribbles and logged a mere three touches of the ball inside the ATLUTD penalty box, as he was dispossessed six times and lost 18 of 22 duels.
Yet, he still popped up as the matchwinner, with CLTFC snatching both their goals in a fleeting five-minute span shortly after halftime. Both came from transition moments made possible by ATL defensive errors, their new superstar a study in efficiency while his teammates tightened things up in the back.
“He played a fantastic first half,” Atlanta coach Ronny Deila later said of Edwards. “I didn't see Zaha, I don't know if you see him, he didn’t do anything. And then he gets that moment in the second half.
“Once we go down, I think we lose organization – everybody goes, not everybody, but many go into the shells. Then we are not even. We are not doing what we talked about like we did in the first half. And then they get two, and then they make the game really difficult.”
Zaha had anything but straightforward preparations for this occasion, having jetted in from London on Thursday after missing nearly a week of team activities to be with his wife Paige for the birth of their daughter Zuri. It would’ve been entirely understandable had CLT coach Dean Smith played it safe and deployed his new weapon off the bench.
Turns out he was plenty ready for the spotlight.
“It's been an amazing week. I've managed to witness the birth of my daughter, so I feel like that's given me extra power, extra strength going into this game,” said Zaha, even as he called his goal “a weird one,” admitting that he “didn’t make the best connection” with the ball as he steered the rebound of a Brad Guzan save past ATL’s scrambling goalkeeper.
“The group's amazing, we worked hard and we got the win that we needed.”
Bring on the hype
Is adding an elite creator like Zaha really all Charlotte needed to elevate from tough out to legit heavyweight? That’s been the question around the North Carolina metropolis since his acquisition on a season-long loan from Galatasaray.
“He’s the type of player we were missing last season for sure. We’ve seen in one performance today he can produce moments of magic,” said Smith of Zaha, taking particular care to laud his positional discipline.
“First half, you can see he was getting into the rhythm of the game; rhythm is a big thing at times for players. There was people snapping at his heels a few times, he gave it away a couple of times as well. But his position defensively was really good – that, for me, makes him a team player, what he does without the ball. We know what he can do with the ball. He can score goals like that. He can make runs like he did for the first goal. But the defensive side of the game was really good from him as well.”
As teams around the league gain match fitness and build scouting dossiers, opponents will be less likely to commit cardinal sins on standard-issue long balls like Atlanta did. And 90 minutes is a small sample size in any scenario. Next Sunday’s trip to reigning Supporters’ Shield holders Inter Miami CF (4 pm ET | MLS Season Pass) may pose a significantly tougher task for The Crown.
But the hype in Charlotte likely won’t dissipate anytime soon, and the hope is everyone in that massive opening-day turnout picked up enough of it to return again and again this year.
“Great following, great support,” said Smith. “I don't know how many was here today, 50-odd-thousand, but I want them to come back. I’ve said many times, the way to keep them coming back is history – we haven’t got a lot of that, we're only four years old this year, so winning football games is the main reason we’re going to keep fans coming back. So we need to keep winning football games.”
