Soccer
Wilfried Zaha was electric in his Charlotte FC debut last weekend, scoring and creating the opener in a 2-0 win over Atlanta United.
The scary part, according to MLS Season Pass analyst Bradley Wright-Phillips?
That performance was only the tip of the iceberg from the Ivory Coast international and Crystal Palace legend.
“I played against Zaha, I watched him all throughout his Premier League years and he was nowhere near his best,” Wright-Phillips said on This is MLS.
“If he can have that kind of performance on a day where I’d say he was at 50 percent, we’ve got a lot more to come from Wilfried Zaha. We didn’t see him dicing up players, running at players too much, just causing havoc down the wings.”
Charlotte signed Zaha this winter, completing a loan deal with Turkish side Galatasaray, and are hoping the Designated Player attacker takes them from an Audi MLS Cup Playoffs team to a legitimate contender.
For his part, MLS Season Pass analyst Sacha Kljestan views Charlotte as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference. And they could prove worthy of that status when visiting reigning Supporters’ Shield champions Inter Miami CF on Sunday (4 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
“They remind me a lot of LAFC right now and what I mean by that is they’re not flashy or exciting,” Kljestan said. “They’re not beautiful on the ball. But they’re so solid defensively and now they have difference-makers in attack.
“Solid through the midfield, tough to break down, a very good goalkeeper – that’s a recipe for success as you head towards the playoffs. And like Bradley said, that was not Zaha anywhere near his best. He is a match-winner.”
With a win against Lionel Messi & Co. in Matchday 3, Charlotte would make a statement that reverberates across the league. It’d be arguably their biggest result yet under head coach Dean Smith.
“This will be their toughest test of the season so far and a Charlotte team with something to prove,” analyst Calen Carr said.
“Zaha coming in changes them. … That’s the piece where, as he grows with confidence, he can make the difference to take Charlotte up a notch.”
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