Wilfried Zaha impresses in his home debut for the Charlotte FC as he led them to a 2-0 clean sheet victory over Atlanta United, showing the league a promising sign of things to come for Charlotte as they now bump up their spot in the Eastern Conference, now up to the third seed overall in what has been quite a surprising MLS season so far.

A whopping total of over 51,000 fans gathered at the Bank of America Stadium in anticipation of what seems to be the dawn of a new era in Charlotte soccer as Wilfried Zaha, one of the legendary players in Europe, now enters the big stage of the MLS for a fresh start now more than ever. So far, he has done just that with an impressive game of his own at this point.

Zaha’s impressive debut definitely gave goosebumps to the Charlotte faithfuls, and it cannot be denied that his game was really anticipated to be one of the biggest home welcomes in the MLS so far next to Lionel Messi with Inter Miami and David Beckham with LA Galaxy. Now it seems that Zaha is expected to bring in the thunder for the club as they seek to bring a promising run now more than ever.

A Big Game for Charlotte

Charlotte was not really the aggressor in their 2-0 win versus Atlanta as they only had 10 shots, with five of those on target in comparison to AU’s three shots on target in 15 attempts. Atlanta also held the ball more at 58% and even made more passes at 577 for 85% accuracy, and they even had the advantage on fouls as Charlotte was called for a total of 12.

However, the stat sheet had little impact on the actual game’s outcome as Pep Biel scored a goal for Charlotte in their momentous run in the 49th minute. Zaha followed it up with his first goal for the club in the 54th minute to make it a 2-0 lead for the team with the rest of the game left to play.

Defense played a huge role for Charlotte as they held on for the rest of the showdown and forced massive defense on Atlanta to stave off any comeback attempt as the final whistle was blown by the umpires, signalling a promising win for Charlotte in Zaha’s debut at home. This victory marked the club’s first win of the season in two games played and is now up to four points – just behind East-leading teams in Philadelphia and Columbus.

Magical Debut For Zaha

Zaha did not make his debut in Charlotte’s first game as he had to return to England after her wife gave birth to their daughter. While that opening game for the season ended in a 2-2 draw, this massive win against Atlanta proved to be quite a statement to remember.

“It was just joy, man, being able to repay all the hype,” Zaha said of scoring the goal and playing the full 90 minutes. “The lads believe in me, the gaffer believes in me, and hopefully after this goal, everyone else will too.”

Zaha is a veteran in his own right. A whopping 101 goals in 525 games is quite rare for a winger, especially when he’s jumped from the English Premier League and the Ligue 1 since 2010. However, it cannot be denied that his impact in the game for Charlotte is quite the promising look that fans can hope to see in the coming months.