Rangers claim second clean sheet of season in scoreless draw

The Swope Park Rangers battled to a scoreless draw against Dom Oduro and the Charlotte Independence in the first ever meetings between these two clubs.

Paulo Nagamura selected four Sporting Kansas City players for his starting eleven, including: Gedion Zelalem, Wan Kuzain, Gianluca Busio, and Adrian Zendejas, who captained SPR.

The first half was pretty dominant by the visitors, who ended the half with 13 shot, but only three hit the target. The Rangers has the best chance, which came from the penalty spot after Ayyoub Allach’s foot got stepped on by a Charlotte defender. Camden Riley won the discussion with Alexander, and Riley’s shot was saved by the keeper.

The second had a hugely controversial moment in the 75th minute. Charlotte scored a free kick, but the referee disallowed the goal because an offside Enzo Martinez interfered with play.

As both sides split the points, Swope Park Rangers remain in 17th place in the Eastern Conference with eight points with a 1-5-7 record. The Charlotte Independence are just one point and one spot higher than SPR, but Charlotte has played one more game.

The best player for the Rangers today had to be Gianluca Busio. He seemed to be one of very few that played with a quick pace. Gedion Zelalem and Wan Kuzain didn’t do too much. With the game being played during the day with such high temperatures and the fact that it’s there second game of the week, it was going to be difficult to keep a high pace.

SPR now hit the road for two straight weekends to face North Carolina FC and Charleston Battery before hosting St. Louis FC in late June. All Swope Park Ranger and USL Championship marches can be live-streamed on ESPN+.