Chattanooga Football Club came up against Southeast Division rivals Crown Legacy FC for the third and final time of the regular season on Sunday night and secured a crucial two points with a 3-2 shootout win, after the match finished 1-1 at the end of regulation in Matthews, North Carolina.
After a goalless first half that saw CFC put in a strong defensive performance, Crown Legacy's Tyger Smalls opened the scoring in the 54th minute. However, the Boys in Blue showed an immense amount of resilience and continued to knock on Crown Legacy's door with a multitide of chances.
Mehdi Ouamri finally found the equalizer in the 88th minute, when he pounced on the end of Milo Garvanian's cross and scored his ninth goal of the season.
The match went to a shootout, and CFC ultimately secured the crucial extra point thanks to a masterful performance in goal by Jonathan Burke.
"Overall defensively we played well," said Burke. "Communication-wise we were very on point. We talked a lot before the game on how to mark. The guys did phenomenal today. I don't think I deserve as much credit as I do right now because the backline was incredible today. Even though it was cooking and so hot out in the first half, everyone communicated well and put a shift in. The first goal was unfortunate, but sometimes you need that for a little boost. We moved on from it very well and were able to get one ourselves. Honestly, we probably could have got two because we were on them after that first goal we conceded. The spark came from conceding that first one."
Sporting Director and Head Coach Rod Underwood gave his reaction to the match: "There was an ebb and flow to it. We started strong. We strated the game well and then we struggled a bit in the last 15 minutes of the first half. We started well in the first 10 minutes of the second half but a simple mistake happened where we didn't track properly and they slot the ball in. We didn't give up. We kept fighting and we showed character. We made some adjustments. We had a couple of good looks in the second half and Mehdi [Ouamri] was opportunistic and pounces on the chance and we get the goal."
The result sees CFC jump up to fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings to remain in a playoff position.
CFC will now prepare for another Southeast Division test on the road against Inter Miami CF II next Sunday, August 25th, with a 7:00 p.m. EST kick-off.
CFC's next home match will be on September 1st during Labor Day weekend against Atlanta United 2, which will see the return of fireworks. Tickets are on sale now.
Noteworthy
- Anatolie Prepelita captained the side for the first time this season
- Jean Antoine and Alex McGrath missed out due to short-term injuries
- Markus Naglestad made the matchday roster for the first time since re-signing with the club earlier this week, and the Norwegian substituted into the match (81') and scored a penalty in the shootout
- CFC leads the Eastern Conference in shootout wins (6)
Box Score
Crown Legacy FC (8W-7L-6D, 4SOW, 34 pts.) - Chattanooga FC (7W-7L-8D, 6SOW, 35 pts.)
Sportsplex at Matthews | Matthews, N.C.
Final score:
CLFC: 1
CFC: 1
CFC wins shootout 3-2 to secure extra point
Scoring summary:
54': Smalls - CLFC
88': Ouamri - CFC
Stats (CLFC/CFC):
Possession: 51% / 49%
xG: 1.01 / 0.82
Shots: 12 / 14
Shots on goal: 5 / 5
Blocked shots: 5 / 4
Total passes: 419 / 366
Passing accuracy percentage: 87.8 / 83.6
Corners: 7 / 2
Free-kicks: /
Total crosses: 13 / 8
Offsides: 1 / 3
Goalkeeper saves: 4 / 4
Clearances: 3 / 8
Fouls: 10 / 12
Discipline:
58' - CFC: Joseph Perez (Caution)
74' - CFC: Callum Watson (Caution)
90' - CLFC: Josue Rodrigues (Caution)
90'+4 - CLFC: Willian Sangoquiza Paredes (Caution)
Line-ups:
CLFC starters: Chituru Odunze; Jean-Aniel Assi (Josue Rodrigues 78'), Jack Neeley (C), Willian Sangoquiza Paredes, JahLane Forbes; Cam Duke, Erik Pena Boardman (Filip Mirkovic 61'), Aron John; Tyger Smalls (Brian Carmona Romero 72'), Dylan Sing (Jonathan Nyandjo 72'), Nimfasha Berchimas
Substitutes not used: Nicholas Holliday, Julian Bravo, Simon Tonidandel, Philip Mayaka, Amare Lucas
Head coach: Kevin Sawchak
CFC starters: Jonathan Burke; Milo Garvanian, Anatolie Prepelita (C), Duvan Viafara, Joseph Perez (Farid Sar-Sar 81'); Andres Jimenez Aranzazu, Jude Arthur (Callum Watson 66'), Luis Garcia Sosa; Minjae Kwak (Markus Naglestad 81'), Taylor Gray (Jalen James 81'), Mehdi Ouamri
Substitutes not used: Michael Barrueta, Jesse Williams, Ethan Koren
Head Coach: Rod Underwood
