For the first time in 12 games in a run that began in March, Karol Swiderski got on the scoresheet for Charlotte FC.
The Poland international began life as Charlotte’s first-ever Designated Player brilliantly after signing from PAOK, scoring back-to-back braces in wins over New England Revolution and FC Cincinnati in just his third and fourth appearances.
But since then, and despite CLTFC going from strength to strength even through a managerial change, Swiderski has suffered frustration, still putting in promising performances but falling short in the 18-yard box.
That all changed on Saturday when Swiderski used his head to put the finishing touches on a 25-pass sequence – the most passes leading to a goal in MLS this season – as Charlotte beat Nashville SC 4-1 at Bank of American Stadium.
Crown the MAN 👑 pic.twitter.com/8pdHtf8HFG
— Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) July 10, 2022
Something to build on, perhaps? Swiderski is certainly aware of the goalscoring burden he carries, which comes front and center regardless of what he does away from the box.
“I hope I can score more goals because, of course, I’m [a] DP player and I need to score,” Swiderski told reporters. “I know this. This was also not easy for me because I want to give my best, but I am happy to win today and I think we can keep this way until we finish the season.“
On how he scored, Swiderski added: “It’s difficult because I don’t think. In one second, I saw Yordy he crossed and I try to make some movements at [the] first post. The delivery was fantastic. Of course, it was also not an easy ball to score, but I’m happy to be back to score.”
If Swiderski can use this goal to inspire another rich run of form, it might just be enough to make sure Charlotte maintain their place above the MLS Cup Playoff line.
The expansion team currently occupy sixth place in the Eastern Conference after back-to-back wins (vs Houston and Nashville) and still have a number of winnable games left on paper.
“We will try to keep momentum,” interim head coach Christian Lattanzio said. “I’m sure when they will come back to training, they will be ready to give momentum to our season. I can see that they want more, they want to play more together. I think today we went one step forward as well in terms [of] with the ball.”