Charleston Battery beat Brooklyn 5-0 in the USL Championship Group Stage on Friday night. The hosts opened the scoring almost immediately and never looked back. A. Cabrera fired home in the first minute, and that set the tone for what followed. By then, Brooklyn knew they were in trouble.
M. Foster doubled the lead just before half-time, and the visitors never really threatened to recover. L. Kissiedou added a third early in the second period, and M. Berry made it four soon after. Things came to a head when T. McNamara was sent off in the 79th minute, though L. Kissiedou also picked up a red card in the same incident. E. Ycaza wrapped it up with a late goal.
Charleston dominated possession at 56 per cent and created four big chances compared to Brooklyn's one. They registered eight shots on target with seven off target, while the visitors managed five on target and three wide. The visitors had more corners and clearances, but that only shows they spent time defending rather than building anything of their own.
The result keeps Charleston in second place on 39 points from 23 games. They've won 12, drawn three and lost eight. Brooklyn sit 12th with 16 points from 21 matches, four wins, four draws and 13 defeats. The gap between them is now 23 points, and the visitors have nothing to lose going forward.