FC Cincinnati are headed to Charlotte, North Carolina for a weekend clash in the faux ‘Queen City’ as they look to continue their strong run of form and extend their winning streak to three matches. With the matchup set with Charlotte FC, the Orange and Blue are also looking to do what they’ve never done before and win outright at Bank of America Stadium to keep their success of late on the road going.
In the last two seasons, FC Cincinnati have been historically strong on the road. With 11 wins in each of the last two seasons, FCC became the only club in MLS history to reach that mark in back-to-back seasons. This season it has been a little less successful with a 1-3-2 record so far in 2026, but with a win and two draws in their last three road matches that trend may be turning in FCC’s favor.
In four trips to Charlotte, FC Cincinnati own a 0-2-2 record. In this trip down, Head Coach Pat Noonan is looking for his team to clean up parts of their play and perform in a more complete way to earn a victory.
“There’s a lot (we have to do) because we haven't done much well at their place, and they've been very consistent in what they do, how they play and they're tough to play against on both sides of the ball,” Noonan said of finding success this weekend.
“As a starting point we look at the current group, too many red cards, playing down a man too often. I think the last three games against Charlotte… have been us having a man sent off home and away, so that was a theme in previous games, I'd like to see us finish the game 11 on 11,” the head coach continued. “But it's a tough place to play, and they're a very experienced team. When you have an experienced group, an experienced coach, I imagine they're not going to be too rattled, frustrated, with results. They'll be strong, they'll be ready to go.”
FC Cincinnati have earned some of their success of late despite injuries hampering the depth and forcing some players into unfamiliar positions. Fortunately, the team is now getting some of those injured players back as the week leading into this match saw a near full group in training. With a busy week on the other side of this match, having that depth at their disposal could be huge for success this weekend.
“It gives you answers,” Noonan said of the stretch of late and the unique lineups they’ve had to play. “We've seen some good and bad over the last couple and…we get guys coming back. The idea is not to play guys out of position. It was a unique stretch there, and hopefully with the healthy (players) of those returning we can get guys in more comfortable positions and have better depth, better health and better competition.”
FC Cincinnati return home after this match to host Inter Miami CF at TQL Stadium for 513 Day in Cincinnati on Wednesday May, 13 at 7:30p.m.. They then jet off again to the west coast for their first ever match with San Diego FC next Saturday, with a 9:30p.m. ET kickoff.
FC Cincinnati at Charlotte FC – Saturday, May 9, 2026 – 7:30 p.m. ET – Bank of America Stadium
Watch/Stream (English/Spanish): Apple TV
English Local Radio: ESPN 1530
Spanish Local Radio: La Mega 101.5 FM
History vs Charlotte FC
FC Cincinnati look to snap a four-match winless streak against Charlotte FC. The Orange and Blue have lost three consecutive matches against the Crown – and have been shown red and played down a man in each of the three losses.
The Orange and Blue have never beaten Charlotte FC on their home turf. CLTFC are the only Eastern Conference club which FCC have never won away at.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
(Courtesy of *FC Cincinnati Communications*)
Hat Trick! – With his hat trick last Saturday in Chicago, Evander recorded the eighth performance in club history – including the club’s USL era (2016-18) – of 3+ goals in a game.
Remarkably, it was the Brazilian’s first professional hat trick in his esteemed career which has included stints with CR Vasco da Gama (Brazil), FC Midtjylland (Denmark) and Portland Timbers (MLS) before he joined FC Cincinnati ahead of the 2025 season.
Assist Streak – Homegrown Gerardo ‘Dado’ Valenzuela has provided at least one assist in each of the past three games. An assist in his next appearance will match Luciano Acosta’s club record of an assist in 4-straight games (May 11-25, 2024). He currently holds the seventh 3-match assist streak in FCC’s MLS history.
Noonan on the cusp of 75 – With a win Saturday night, FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan would become the fastest coach in the MLS post-shootout era (since 2000) to reach 75 regular season wins, besting the previous mark by Seattle’s Brian Schmetzer (151 games to reach 75 wins). Saturday will be Noonan’s 148th MLS match as coach of the Orange and Blue.
Scouting Charlotte FC (4-5-2, 16 Points, 7th in Eastern Conference, L-L-L-L-W)
Charlotte FC enter this game struggling, but have been a far better team at home than on the road in 2026. Losers of their last four across all competitions, and four of their last five in MLS action, CLTFC will be looking to get back into form in front of their home fans.
At Bank of America Stadium this MLS season, Charlotte FC is 3-1-1 in five matches, with a plus-seven goal differential. On the road, things have been a different story – with a 1-4-1 record and minus-eight differential – but with this game in North Carolina, FC Cincinnati will have to overcome that strength to continue their winning ways.
The strength of Charlotte starts at the back with Kristian Kahlina, who has been the man between the metal for CLTFC for five seasons now and has been one of the best keepers in MLS during that time. The Croatian keeper won the 2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and enters this match third in total saves this season despite Charlotte’s total negative goal differential.
Moving up the field from there, the Charlotte defense is most commonly anchored by Tim Ream and Nathan Bryne, who play center back and right back, respectively. Ream, a USMNT regular with 80 caps for his country, joined Charlotte from Fulham FC in the English Premier League in 2024. Byrne, who hails from England, touts experience across the English Football League table and joined Charlotte in 2022. He has since made 95 appearances for the club. Other key defenders include Andrew Privett and 21-year-old Morrison Agyemang.
In the midfield, captain Ashley Westwood leads the team. He’s made appearances in all 11 games this season with 10 starts and has played nearly every minute possible for Charlotte since arriving from Burnley in 2023. Team-leading goal scorer Pep Biel also plays in midfield; he’s scored five times this season with an additional four assists.
Up front is a trio of attackers with varying experience at the highest levels. Kerwin Vergas and Idan Toklomati have both been key to the team's attack for multiple seasons, with the duo of forwards combining for five goals and two assists so far. The star of the group, though, is DP forward Wilfried Zaha, who, in addition to his contributions at the club level, will be gearing up to help the Ivory Coast at the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer.
“They're good at getting isolation with their wingers and getting into the box with really hard runs,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said of Charlotte ahead of this match. “They're a team that runs well to goal, and so that's caused us problems previously. Defensively they're disciplined, and you have to be patient and pick the moments to take risk playing forward.”
Zaha, 33, joined Charlotte in 2025 on loan from Turkish side Galatasaray and is currently expected to stay with the club through June 2026. The winger spent a decade in the English Premier League before joining his Turkish club, almost exclusively playing in England with Crystal Palace. Since joining MLS, Zaha has scored 12 goals and recorded 14 assists in 40 matches.
The head coach of Charlotte FC is Dean Smith, who took over in 2023 and has led the side to a 40-35-19 record since then. Smith, an England native, managed well-known clubs like Leicester City FC, Norwich City, Aston Villa and Burnley prior to his arrival in the United States. He has lined up his side in a 4-3-3 formation most often this season.
