SOCCER: Charlotte rallies for draw in Queen City clash vs. Cincinnati

In a battle between the two Queen Cities Saturday night in Charlotte, FC Cincinnati squandered a two-goal lead in the second half and settled for a 2-2 draw with Charlotte FC.

FC Cincinnati (4-4-4, 16 points) drew first blood in the 36th minute, Evander took a free kick, with the ball saved by a diving Kristijan Kahlina. But Kahlina deflected the ball right to Kevin Denkey, who unleashed a leaping kick with his right foot to give Cincinnati a 1-0 lead with his seventh goal of the season.

Evander didn't have to wait long to find the net himself. With Cincinnati on the attack as the first half wound down in the 43rd minute, Evander unleashed a lofted shot from the edge of the box which found the top-left corner to extend Cincinnati's lead to 2-0. The goal was Evander's fourth in Cincinnati's last two matches and sixth of the season.

But less than 10 minutes into the second half, Charlotte (4-5-3, 15 points) roared back to tie the match with two goals in a two-minute span. After Idan Toklomati got Charlotte on the board in the 51st minute on a header off a headed assist from Tim Ream, Pep Biel equalized on his team-high sixth goal in the 52nd. He buried a centering pass from Djibril Danil into the top of the net past Roman Celentano.

Cincinnati narrowly outperformed Charlotte on the stat sheet in shots (13-11), shots on goal (5-3) and possession (53.6%-46.4%).

Both teams had chances throughout the second half to break the draw but could not find the net. It was a physical battle, with Cincinnati given four yellow cards and Charlotte assessed one. The two teams also combined for 23 fouls.

Kahlina made three saves in goal for Charlotte FC, while Celentano made one for Cincinnati.

-Field Level Media/Reuters