When he was just 16 years old, Ontario native Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty made his MLS debut for Toronto FC. The Charlotte FC defender isn’t exactly an old man now — he turns 21 on June 16 — so any trip home is particularly meaningful.
Marshall-Rutty and Charlotte FC visit Toronto FC on Saturday as both teams search for a rare victory.
“To play in front of my family and stuff like that will for sure be a great feeling,” said Marshall-Rutty, a Brampton native who played parts of four seasons for Toronto FC. “I just want to go there and take care of business, and it’ll feel even better after the game if we win.”
Charlotte (7-8-1, 22 points) enters Saturday’s contest looking for just its second away victory of the season (1-6-1).
Charlotte FC conceded four goals to the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday and has just one win over their last seven matches (1-6-0).
Forward Liel Abada leads Charlotte with five goals in 15 matches this season.
Toronto FC will look to avoid a third straight loss as they close out their three-match home stand. The Reds (3-9-4, 13 points) are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday and have just one win at home this season (1-6-2).
Ola Brynhildsen opened the scoring against the Union, but the Reds surrendered two late goals to suffer their third defeat in four matches (1-3-0).
“It doesn’t feel good,” Brynhildsen said. “We worked so hard. I think we really played well. Everyone was on, we were fighting. Obviously, it’s a lot of frustrations, but the good thing is that next game comes fast, so we can’t dwell on this.”
Federico Bernardeschi leads the Reds this season with four goals in 15 appearances.
Saturday marks the first of two MLS regular-season meetings between the two clubs. Toronto visits Charlotte on July 26 to conclude the season series.
–Field Level Media
