Wilfried Zaha arrived at Charlotte FC with ample excitement as the club’s first marquee superstar ahead of the 2025 MLS season, and has lived up to the hype through the campaign. 

The former Premier League star, who signed with Charlotte on loan from Turkey’s Galatasaray, brought skill and bravado that Dean Smith’s side had not seen before, elevating the team to an incredible season which featured an MLS-record nine-game win streak.

He finished with 10 goals and 10 assists, playing a key role in helping Charlotte secure fourth place in the Eastern Conference. They will hold home advantage through the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs, which pits them in a best-of-three series against New York City FC. 

Yet, Zaha won’t be able to play in Game 1 of the series after scoring and earning a red card in the club’s 2–0 Decision Day win over the Philadelphia Union. Already on a yellow card, he seemingly threw a punch at the Union’s Jesús Bueno in the final moments, getting himself sent off in the 90th minute.

As such, he won’t be able to face NYCFC, the team which snapped Charlotte’s nine-game win streak on Sept. 19, when they meet for Game 1 in North Carolina next weekend. 

The incident in the regular season finale is far from the first time that Zaha’s passion has come to light––and Charlotte has benefited tremendously from his efforts throughout the campaign, even as he has snapped at teammates during postgame press conferences. 

“I moan, because I know the team has quality and that we can do better, and everyone’s talking about what Charlotte can do and whatever, so we want to do the best,” he said following an August Leagues Cup loss in penalties to Liga MX’s Chivas Guadalajara.

“I want the best, so I try to produce the best, so me moaning at players is me saying ‘I know you can do better,’ and it’s not ‘oh yeah, Wilf’s got attitude.’

“I can walk around like a bot and not care about football, and not care about the team, but I just care in general, and that’s me. When I came here, people knew before that Wilfried Zaha is passionate, so do you want passionate Wilfried Zaha or Wilfried Zaha that just walks around and doesn’t care?” the winger said.

Foul Machine

Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha drew more fouls than any other player in MLS this season. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Throughout Zaha’s career, he has become known as a player who can get under opponents’ skin, and his speed and skill have made him a target for defenders, grasping at any opportunity to draw him away from attacks. 

Those qualities have continued in MLS, and Zaha’s impact went far beyond just the goals and assists; he drew the most fouls of any player on the league’s 30 teams by a significant margin. The Ivory Coast international suffered 125 fouls this season, 23 more than second place on the leaderboard, which belongs to New England Revolution midfielder Carles Gil, who drew 102. 

His presence will no doubt be missed in Game 1, but he will be able to return for Game 2 in New York, as well as a potential deciding Game 3, with the winner advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals. 

“He's the most fouled player in the league for a reason, and I felt the protection of him wasn't as good as it could have been,” said Smith after Saturday’s match.

“I felt that during a few times this season, and you could see the whole Philadelphia bench up every time there was a foul on him, and it’s hard. Sometimes the red mist will come down.  He’s human.”

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Red Mist’—Wilfried Zaha’s Fire Comes With Costly Playoff Consequence for Charlotte FC.