Charlotte FC and Inter Miami, without Messi, play to scoreless tie
They came to see Messi. They went home talking about Kahlina.
Kristijan Kahlina was brilliant Saturday night, helping Charlotte FC to a 0-0 draw against defending MLS Cup Champion Inter Miami CF in front of a sold-out crowd at Bank of America Stadium. The 34,780 in attendance expected to watch Lionel Messi chase goal No. 900. Instead, the former MLS goalkeeper of the year put on a clinic.
Messi stays home, Charlotte holds firm
Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano chose to rest his captain — along with midfielder Rodrigo De Paul — for the MLS regular-season visit to Charlotte. Neither player traveled with the team for the match.
The context made Messi’s absence sting a little more as he sits at 899 career goals for club and country, one away from joining Cristiano Ronaldo (965) as the only men’s players to reach 900. Messi scored No. 899 against D.C. United last Saturday, then was held scoreless in a 0-0 CONCACAF draw at Nashville on Wednesday.
Kahlina’s grand night
The Bank of America Stadium crowd felt the absence of Messi, but found something else to latch onto. In the 34th minute, with the game scoreless, Gonzalo Luján attacked a ball from the center of the box — a chance carrying 14% expected goal value (xG) — and Kahlina leapt to deny it with a one-handed diving save. The stadium erupted. Chants of “Kah-lin-a, Kah-lin-a” rolled through the lower bowl.
In the 79th minute, Germán Berterame found space for a header from close range and Kahlina shut him out again.
For Charlotte FC, Wilfried Zaha nearly broke through in the 63rd minute off a free kick. His shot from the center of the box carried a 32% xG, only to be denied by a strong Rocco Ríos Novo stop on the opposite end.
Charlotte FC manager Dean Smith was blunt about his team’s overall effort.
“I thought we were average,” he said. But the Croatian’s two big stops were the difference between a point and nothing.
A scrappy affair, a late ejection
The match had teeth from the start. Defender Nathan Byrne and Inter Miami’s Mateo Silvetti collided in an early head-on crash, with Silvetti drawing a yellow card. Both players went through concussion protocols and re-entered around the ninth minute.
The first half produced 15 total fouls and three yellow cards. Charlotte’s best chance came from Ashley Westwood, whose right-footed shot from the center of the box was saved by Ríos Novo. Then Liel Abada had a clean breakaway in the 22nd minute but pulled wide right.
In the second half, Kerwin Vargas appeared to draw a foul in the box in the 89th minute. No penalty was given; Charlotte got a corner instead.
Afterward, Smith didn’t hide his frustration. “It’s either a goal kick or a penalty because the lad hasn’t touched the ball at all,” he said. “(Video assistant referee) made a mistake by not sending the referee to the monitor.”
Mascherano was then ejected in stoppage time after arguing a foul call against one of his players, earning a yellow card, then a second for continuing to protest. He walked off having been tossed from a game his team controlled in stretches but couldn’t finish without its two biggest attacking weapons.
Smith pushed back on framing the result as dropped points. “They’re still the (defending) MLS champions,” he said. “It’s some squad.”
This story was originally published March 14, 2026 at 11:38 PM with the headline "Charlotte FC and Inter Miami, without Messi, play to scoreless tie."