Rookies Tavares, Abada spark Charlotte to victory over Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (AP) — Rookies Iúri Tavares and Liel Abada used two of Ashley Westwood's club-record three assists to score two minutes apart in the first half, sparking Charlotte FC to a 3-1 victory over FC Cincinnati on Saturday night.

Charlotte (10-8-5) was coming off a 2-1 home loss to Inter Miami on July 3, a team Cincinnati (15-5-4) beat 6-1 three days later to grab the lead in the Supporters' Shield race with 48 points. It was Charlotte's first win in the series. Cincinnati outscored Charlotte 5-0 in winning two previous matchups at home and the two clubs played to draws in two matches in Charlotte.

Tavares scored for a second time this season, using assists from Westwood and Abada in the 20th minute to give Charlotte the lead. Abada made it 2-0 in the 22nd with help from Westwood. Abada has four goals and two assists.

Reigning MVP Luciano Acosta pulled Cincinnati within a goal at halftime when he found the net in the first minute of stoppage time. Yamil Asad picked up his fifth assist of the season on Acosta's 11th goal.

Charlotte regained a two-goal advantage in the 66th minute when Kerwin Vargas took a pass from Westwood and scored his fifth goal of the season. Westwood became the first Charlotte player to record three assists in a single match. He has five this season.

Things went from bad to worse for Cincinnati when Miles Robinson was hit with a red card in the 72nd minute, leaving the club a man down from there.

Kristijan Kahlina finished with six saves in goal for Charlotte. Roman Celentano stopped four shots for Cincinnati.

Charlotte played without top scorer Patrick Agyemang (6 goals, 3 assists), who was serving a one-match suspension for a red card he received against Inter Miami.

Cincinnati had won 12 of its last 14 matches before running into Charlotte. The only other team in league history to win 12 of 14 was the 2018 Seattle Sounders.

Cincinnati began the day as the first defending winners of the Supporters’ Shield to lead the race this late in the following season since the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2011. The Galaxy also won it the previous season and were the last team to capture the trophy in back-to-back campaigns.

Yuya Kubo’s appearance was the 140th of his Cincinnati career, passing Nick Hagglund for the club record. Kubo has already scored a career-high nine goals this season.

Charlotte stays in Ohio to play the Columbus Crew on Wednesday. Cincinnati will host the Chicago Fire on Wednesday.

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