TORONTO, ON — Yordy Reyna lead Charlotte FC into a matchup with Toronto FC after scoring two goals against Inter Miami last week. But as the team went back into conference play Saturday - and on the heels of a stunning win against a British stalwart in a friendly - they found themselves cold-stunned again in Canada.
Toronto solidly defended their home pitch with four unanswered goals. Jonathan Osorio started the scoring early at four minutes in, while Michael Bradley followed up 10 minutes into play. Federico Bernardeschi found the net 31 minutes in, and Bradley kicked it in again in stoppage time before the end of the first half.
And for the remaining 45 minutes of play, the black and blue could not find the net. Left back Christian Fuchs, however, did get a red card for a collision with Toronto's Jayden Nelson. In the end, Charlotte FC found itself bested again in the Great White North; their last meeting with a Canadian team across the border was with CF Montreal, which ended in a 2-1 win for Montreal. Before that, Montreal visited Charlotte, winning with two unanswered goals.
Charlotte was 5-8-1 in Eastern Conference games, ranking fifth in the Eastern Conference giving up just 27 goals.
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Toronto was 5-10-1 against conference opponents and is 0-4-1 when it scores just one goal.
Charlotte FC turned heads earlier this week when it defeated Chelsea FC 5-3 in penalties.
The friendly club match featured one of Major League Soccer's newest teams taking on an English stalwart. While neither Charlotte nor Chelsea racked up league points in this friendly match, the pitch served as a proving ground.
PREVIOUSLY: Charlotte FC defeats Chelsea FC 5-3 in penalties
Chelsea took the lead in the First Half with a strike from Christian Pulisic, a U.S. Men's National Soccer Team player. In the 30th minute, a shot from Michy Batshuayi deflected off a Charlotte FC defender into Pulisic's feet. He quickly took the ball and squared it away into the net to give his team the advantage.
Charlotte FC was held scoreless until stoppage time in the Second Half when a handball inside the box lead to the hometown team being awarded a penalty kick.
Daniel Rios took the penalty kick and made good on his effort by notching in the kick to tie the game.
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