Charlotte FC plays tough in team debut but blanked by D.C. United

WASHINGTON, DC (WBTV) - After two years in the making, Charlotte FC officially kicked off its inaugural season Saturday evening against D.C. United in the nation’s capital.

Unfortunately, the result wasn’t what the Queen City was hoping for as the MLS’s newest franchise lost 3-0.

The bright side is that while there were mistakes by the young and relatively inexperienced Charlotte team, the men in blue finished the game by tying DC United with 11 shots and winning the shots on goal battle 5-4.

Hundreds of Charlotte FC fans traveled to watch their team kick off the franchise at Audi Field in D.C., and with 19 minutes gone by on the clock, it seemed like they had their first-ever goal to celebrate as midfielder Titi Ortiz headed in a goal to make it a 1-0 game.

Then, Charlotte FC got an unfortunate welcome to the MLS as the goal was called back due to offsides. After that, DC United got on the board first with a penalty kick and would blank Charlotte the rest of the game.

Still, fans witnessed history and had fun doing it as they began tailgating as early as 1 p.m. and marched to the stadium leading up to the game.

“There’s not going to be another party like this here in the Carolinas,” one fan told WBTV.

Charlotte FC is scheduled to take on the LA Galaxy on March 5 at Bank of America stadium in what will be the club’s first-ever home match.

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