The 74,000 seats at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta can be overwhelming at times. Once brimming with excitement of a contending Atlanta United side, many sections have sat vacant as the club struggles at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. 

On Saturday though, a few patches were particularly loud. High up in the bowl, over 2,000 Charlotte FC supporters packed in, cheering The Crown to a 3–2 victory over Atlanta, with goals from Wilfried Zaha, Idan Toklomati and Pep Biel.

While not a local rivalry, the battles between Charlotte and Atlanta have been brewing since the former entered the league in 2022. They’re two southern teams, both with aspirations to contend for MLS Cup in behemoth NFL stadiums. 

“This game excites me always, because it’s like being back in England, where the away fans travel in their numbers,” Charlotte head coach Dean Smith told reporters after the match, a third straight win for his team. “It’s really nice to have them there, and we know what they have to do to get to this game.”

The win marked Charlotte’s 11th of the season, and brought them to seventh in the Eastern Conference. It also continued their rise and a strong week, having secured each win in a span of just eight days. No doubt, a nice boost for the club after going 12 games with just two victories. 

“I think we’re doing a really good job,” captain Ashley Westwood said. “We’re setting in foundations for this football club. We’ve not shot from the stars straight away. You have to build a football club. Since I’ve been here, we’ve reached the playoffs, so hopefully we want to do that again. We want to go one better.”

Moving on from Agyemang

Charlotte FC
Idan Toklomati has quickly established himself as a top-choice striker for Charlotte FC. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

For Smith, it’s equally important that the club moves forward. While they’ve hit a fresh run of success, it’s not without a different look, having sold lead striker Patrick Agyemang to Derby County of the English Championship.

In his absence, though, Toklomati has stepped up and taken the responsibility. The Israeli international has now scored four times in the last six games, taking on the key role in June with Agyemang on USMNT duty before confirming the transfer.

“[Toklomati] can do pretty much everything. He runs in behind, he comes to the feet, and gets the goals like tonight,” Smith told reporters after the game. “He’s always sniffing around in the box we trust in him. He’s on No. 9 now and he’s doing very well at the minute, and he’s full of confidence.”

Now, the 20-year-old has five goals on the season and is continuing to make the most of Charlotte’s elite chance creators like Biel, who put up a goal contribution for the eighth straight match. 

“We knew what Pep could do last year, but this year he’s had a pre-season with us, he’s fully fit, he knows his role, he knows how much we think of him,” Westwood said of Biel, before quipping about the confidence the team has in Toklomati up top. “[Toklomati] is looking like a real top striker.”

With Biel and Zaha’s form combined with the newfound success of Toklomati, Charlotte will now hope they can continue their hot streak as they look ahead to next week’s match against Toronto FC. 

“We knew this was going to be a big period for us, and that’s four unbeaten, three with wins,” Smith added. “We’ve got Toronto coming up. So I offered them a carrot two games ago, that if we won the next two games, they’d get an extra day off, and these lads will do anything for a day off.”

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as No Agyemang No Problem: Biel, Toklomati Take Over As Charlotte Hit Peak Form .

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