Charlotte FC show 'resilience' in first-ever away win

Charlotte FC created another piece of history on Sunday with a first away win in club history.

Naturally, Major League Soccer's latest franchise have had plenty of firsts across its expansion season. The first match against DC United, first home game against the LA Galaxy, first goal scored by Adam Armour, first win against the New England Revolution in Week 4.

And yet, despite being far more competitive than anyone on the outside predicted them to be, Charlotte still hadn't managed a road win. That was until the Crown walked away from PNC Stadium 2-1 victors against the Houston Dynamo thanks to a Matias Vera own goal and a 74th-minute strike from Andre Shinyashiki.

10th time lucky for Charlotte FC.

"Very important [win]. Very important because it’s the first [road win] of our young history, so you create belief," interim head coach Christian Lattanzio said after the match. "That creates belief that we can go away and win."

Despite their unfavorable away record to this point, it's not like Charlotte have been rolling over or taken apart. Five of their seven defeats on the road so far have been by just a one-goal margin, while they haven't lost by more than three goals in any of them - the 3-0 loss against DC United has been their heaviest but that was also their first-ever match.

Lattanzio was pleased with the way his players stuck together to prove they can get over the line away from Bank of America Stadium.

"This is a group capable of many things and this is a group developing nicely. We’ll have more from them I think," he said. "I’m very proud of my team, this team, because it’s a team that showed that they can play and succeed in different ways. When they have to play, they play, and when they have to defend and suffer for each other, they do that as well."

'Resilience' was the keyword used by midfielder Quinn McNeill, who put in a strong performance on his first-ever MLS start.

"There was a lot of resilience from the boys tonight. It’s very hot out here and for us to get our first road win out here, it took a lot and a strong mentality to get that done," the 23-year-old said. "Huge three points for us, and we look to go again."

Charlotte FC return to home comforts against Nashville SC next time out before a trip to Inter Miami, followed by a glamor friendly at home to English Premier League giants Chelsea.