Charlotte FC edge Fire for first road win

Ashley Westwood scored in the 60th minute and Charlotte FC earned their first road win of the year with a 1-0 blanking of the struggling Chicago Fire on Wednesday night.

Westwood got a free kick after Patrick Agyemang drew a foul at the top of the box from Carlos Teran, a decision that upset Chicago fans. They weren't feeling any better after Westwood clinically curled his right-footed kick around the Fire wall and into the upper right corner of the net for his second goal of the season.

The Fire almost equalized the match twice in the last two minutes of second-half stoppage time, but Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina denied them twice. First, he cradled a header from point-blank range by Hugo Cuypers.

Kahlina then came up with an even better save just before the match hit full time, punching away Teran's right-footed shot that appeared ticketed for the upper left corner of the net. That allowed Charlotte FC to up their record to 6-5-2, good for 20 points.

Meanwhile, Chicago fell to 2-7-4 (10 points) and has come up empty in six straight matches (0-4-2). It owned 57 percent of the possession, outshot the visitors 14-9 and put five shots on frame to Charlotte's two.

The pre-match storylines were all about Charlotte's need to win a road match and Chicago's inability to win a match anywhere. Charlotte FC entered the evening 0-4-1 away from North Carolina.

The first half played out on somewhat predictable terms. Chicago owned a significant edge in possession against one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to maintaining the ball, but it wasn't able to use that advantage to take a lead.

In fact, the Fire just about fell behind in the 39th minute via an embarrassing own goal in their box. However, Teran recovered and was able to clear the ball just before it got to the goal line, although he slammed into the right post and injured his leg.