​Charlotte FC v FC Cincinnati: Smith hoping to take advantage of weary travellers

Dean Smith hopes Charlotte FC will be able to take advantage of any weariness in the FC Cincinnati camp when the teams face off on Saturday.

Cincinnati were knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in midweek, losing 3-1 away to Mexican giants Tigres following a 1-1 first-leg draw on home soil.

They have taken six points from their first three MLS games of 2025 to sit two clear of Charlotte, who lost 1-0 to the 10 men of Inter Miami last time out.

But Smith hopes Cincinnati’s quick turnaround might show at Bank of America Stadium, saying: “We’ve done some final-third work, some stuff without the ball, we know what to expect.

“They’ve brought in a couple of new players, so we’ve looked at them and how we think they’re going to play.

“They played Tigres in Mexico on Tuesday, so that’s a tough game there, then they had to travel back, so they’ll probably have less chance to do as much work as we have on them.

“That could be the thing we have over them this weekend.”

Smith was not pleased with the officiating of last week’s game in Miami, saying winger Wilfried Zaha was targeted by the hosts’ defenders, who took turns fouling the former Crystal Palace man.

Asked if there had been any repercussions to Zaha’s treatment, Smith said: “I’m not going to go there…

“The protection that I would expect for Wilf, he didn’t get. There were at least six or seven fouls on him. That isn’t targeting him, apparently.

“They would have three guys on the side that Zaha was on. He will see things even if there are three players around him, but he needs someone to play it off or to offload it to.”

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