Dean Smith is intent on reminding Charlotte FC "how good we could be" as the visitors look to back up an impressive win when they head to Columbus Crew in MLS.
Smith's side humbled Eastern Conference leaders FC Cincinnati with a 3-1 victory last time out, with Ashley Westwood assisting all three goals – a club record.
That eye-catching result marked a perfect response after back-to-back defeats against Inter Miami and Houston Dynamo, leaving Charlotte sixth in the East standings.
The next challenge for visiting head coach Smith is to keep his side honest, and more importantly, consistent.
"I keep talking in our dressing room about how good we could be. And we've got to be consistent," Smith said.
"We've just lost the last two games. I thought we played really well against Inter Miami. Our first half against Houston, we dropped our standards and got beat because of that.
"So we wanted to make sure that our standards were back there. And I thought it was a good follow-up performance to the Inter Miami game."
Westwood was the hero, picking apart the 10-man Cincinnati with ease en route to a headline result against the division leaders.
"We never know when we're beaten, and that's a good thing to have," said former Burnley midfielder Westwood. "We get knocked down, we keep coming back up.
"And it's a real togetherness. All the lads are running for each other. We know how organised we are. Everyone knows what they're doing."
The Crew are third in the same standings after smashing Los Angeles FC 5-1 in their last match – a result that delighted boss Wilfried Nancy.
"Really happy because the task that we had was really difficult, knowing the context and the situations," Nancy said.
"My players found a way to be ourselves and to play the way we wanted to play and to play really good sequences, but also to be disgusting to play against.
"This is something that I like. I'm happy because the level was good. I'm happy."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez
Cucho Hernandez was on target in the hammering of LAFC last time out, and will continue leading the line and aiming to extend his remarkable run in front of goal.
The Crew star has scored eight goals in his last seven appearances, with his overall tally for the season at 12 goals in 16 MLS matches.
Charlotte FC – Ashley Westwood
Westwood has become an integral part of Smith's side, leading the way from midfield.
The former Premier League midfielder collected two first-half assists in Cincinnati before adding another after the break, taking his season tally to five in 22 MLS games.
MATCH PREDICTION – COLUMBUS CREW WIN
The Crew are the overwhelming favourites for this one, signified by their high likelihood of victory in Opta's pre-match predictions. That owes to their strong recent form.
Columbus have won their last five matches by a combined 20-2 scoreline, since losing to Inter Miami towards the end of last month.
The hosts will take confidence in knowing they have avoided defeat in their last two home meetings with Charlotte, drawing 1-1 in 2022 before a 4-2 victory last season.
Charlotte do, however, have the chance to inflict an unlikely double on Columbus after triumphing 2-0 in March's reverse fixture.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Columbus Crew win – 61.9%
Draw – 20.2%
Charlotte FC win – 18%
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-2 Los Angeles FC: Sanchez strike closes gap at top of West
Ilie Sanchez's stoppage-time goal secured Los Angeles FC a 2-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS on Sunday.
Sergi Palencia's own goal had cancelled out Mateusz Bogusz's early opener at BC Place, but LAFC found their winner last on to close the gap to leaders LA Galaxy to just three points in the Western Conference.
David Martinez cut Vancouver's defence open with a throughball to Bogusz, who dinked a lovely finish over Yohei Takaoka from a tight angle on the left just 34 seconds into the match.
Bogusz then thought he had doubled their advantage after springing on a brilliant save from Takaoka to deny Palencia, but it was ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
The Spaniard handed the Whitecaps their equaliser – he gave away a free-kick on the left and got the final contact on Sebastian Berhalter's free-kick to help it past Hugo Lloris.
Having weathered the storm from Vancouver after the equaliser, including a clearance off the line by Timothy Tillman, LAFC found a late winner, with Sanchez firing in from the edge of the box.
And Brian White, who had glanced a header narrowly wide earlier in the second half, squandered the chance for an even later equaliser, flicking another effort off the far post in the dying seconds.
Data Debrief: Quick out of the blocks
Despite their winning goal coming late in the game, it was actually LAFC's quick start that set them up for the win - Bogusz's goal was their fastest in MLS this season, and their second fastest in history.
They have also scored nine goals in the opening 15 minutes of games, with only St. Louis City (12) and New York City FC (11) netting more.
Meanwhile, Vancouver have now lost each of their last three matches, their longest such streak since October 2022-March 2023.
Mona, Hillel kickstart 2024 Canopy Insurance/JISA Alberga Cup season quest with impressive victories
The 2023 Canopy Insurance/JISA Under-12 Alberga Cup finalists, Mona Preparatory and Hillel Academy kickstarted their quest for victory on Saturday when they played opening matches against St. Hughs Preparatory and American International School of Kingston (AISK) at the National Water Commission’s (NWC) Mona field and the AISK field respectively. The 2023 Cup finalists were 2 of 17 matches played across 5 zones set for both Kingston & St. Catherine.
Mona, who played in Zone 4, won their opener against St. Hugh’s and were in high spirits as they believe they have a chance to repeat history. Coached by Vivian Nelson they clocked 11-0; while unsure if his team is ready, he is looking forward to them playing some good football.
"I’m not sure if we’re ready but the season [already] started so we’ll just play. At 11-0, they’re just showing that they picked up from where they left off so, it was a good game, the first game; we just want to see where they are after the pre-season, so [it] never really looked bad, the playing is okay, but I think as we go along we expect some improvement.”
Nelson said that compared to last year, it’s more or less the same results from the first match.
“If we judge by that [match] then, the season is the same; we’re hoping to get there [on the top spot] again. We have an ongoing program plus some of these youngsters play football right round [the year] so when they’re not with me they’re with the Dare to Dream Football Academy; we put in some work in pre-season; expect youngsters [to be] youngsters and score. [But] I’m looking at how they play the position, their discipline and how they control the game.
Noting that while they’re playing for victory, he’s not looking at teams now, he’s focused on his team to see where the season takes them, whilst praising his competent returning players.
Their opening opponent’s coach, Pryce of St. Hughs Prep believes they can get better.
“We have a fairly young team this year, a group of grade 5 boys coming out to play some really nice football, they were up against the defending champions which is very good and for me they performed the best they could.” said Pryce.
“The boys are growing, they are coming along, they have a lot more experience to gain so the more they play, the better they’ll get over the years. They’re just here to put on a good show for themselves this year and get some confidence going into next year’s season. They just need to play faster and a bit more confident.”
In another St. Andrew match, 2023 finalist Hillel, the Zone 2 favorite, took home the gold with a 7-2 score at the end of the match to secure their move to the next round. While both teams were tied at halftime, Hillel took things up a notch in the second half to score 5 more points.
“It was our first game and we just wanted to see how the boys would play real competitively, and they did well; apart from a few mistakes we got back in our game in the second half and scored some goals, tried to get the benchers in and get some experience for the new ones but all in all, we have more work to do because I’m quite sure there are better teams out there to play; we’re looking forward to that; we need the challenge to ensure our team is ready.” said coach Nicholas Locke of Hillel Academy.
Coach-nominated Players of the Match for the 2024 season’s opener included St. Hugh’s James Whittingham and Hillel’s Jace Lowe.
Other matches played in Saturday’s season opener included: Lannaman’s Prep VS Mount Alvernia Prep (2-0), Creative Kids VS Ardenne Prep (0-1), Emmanuel Christian Academy VS Portmore Missionary Prep (8-0) and Sts. Peter and Paul VS Our Lady of the Angels Prep (11-0).
Skinner compares 'immense and intense' Terland to Haaland
Erling Haaland may have hit unprecedented heights for Manchester City but Marc Skinner believes Manchester United have a similar talisman in Elisabeth Terland.
United boss Skinner likened Women's Super League star Terland to City's Premier League hero Haaland after the Norwegian scored twice in Sunday's 3-0 victory over Tottenham.
That marked her first two goals for United since joining from Brighton, having first blasted a volley home before looping another header over Becky Spencer.
Asked to describe Terland, Skinner said: "Intense in a good way. She is a person who is always focused, she doesn't dip off her focus whether it's pressing or whatever the task is, she's all in.
"I think she knows Haaland personally and I don't want to compare the two but the immense and intense action of both of them, that's how she performs."
Terland's heroics helped to ensure United's 100% record in the WSL this season stayed intact, with three wins and three clean sheets from three games.
The former Brighton forward, who found the net 13 times in the league last season, appeared all over the place against Spurs, attempting a game-high five shots with three of those on target.
Her two goals came from an expected goals tally of just 0.65, though, suggesting superior finishing from lower quality chances, something that will delight Skinner.
"I came to a club that wants to achieve big things. I know playing in a better team will make me better," Terland told Sky Sports.
"Part of my job is to score goals, it is great to get the first one for the club. A good win and I am proud of the team."
United finished fifth last campaign and lacked a regular scorer, with Nikita Parris finishing the term as the club's top scorer in the WSL with only eight goals.
Skinner knows the tide may now turn, however, with Terland firing up top.
"I just think she's an incredible talent," Skinner added.
"The beauty of her is I think she slows the moment and sees the opportunity under the most immense pressure."
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