Nashville SC returned to their own field of play with the goal of getting the victory or at least not losing any more points at home. Randall Leal warned that those were his intentions with a strong shot at minute 12 that was repelled by Dayne St. Clair who, with that save, warned that he would have a very good night under the United framework. In practically the same minute, Paraguayan Luis Amarilla also showed that Minnesota was coming for the win with a tremendous shot that went past Joe Willis and bounced off the horizontal. Two excellent approaches by Nashville in the 14th minute on the feet of CJ Sapong who narrowly failed to put the ball in the back of the net against another “in extremis” intervention from St. Clair, while a second option from Shaq Moore was rejected in the middle of the box by the United defense at a time when the game had become a back and forth in both goals.
It was the visiting team that opened the account at minute 27 through Fragapane, taking advantage of an error as Nashville SC was stepping up. Walker Zimmerman tried a complicated pass to Mukhtar and Minnesota in a fast counterattack beat Joe Willis’ goal with a low shot from the left sector taking advantage of excellent assistance from Emanuel Reynoso.
In stoppage time, Walker Zimmerman was about to make amends with a tremendous header from close range against Hany Mukhtar’s great cross, but St. Clair avoided the goal with a great save under the frame.
Bongokuhle Hlongwane was the first to try something early in the second half in the 47th minute against another great assist from Reynoso, but Joe Willis, in great form, stopped the shot lying on his right. At minute 50 it was Alex Muyl who was unable to efficiently finish off a great service from Randall Leal and allowed St. Clair to reject again to save the tie.
It was not until the 61st minute when German striker Hany Mukhtar managed to hunt down Dave Romney’s cross and bowled across his shot to beat United’s frame with the tying goal. Everything seemed to be level until a defensive transition error by Nashville in the 75th minute allowed United to reach the edge of the area with the ball dominating at Reynoso’s feet once again, who yielded in a great way to Rosales off the hook of Moore’s mark. His cross found no resistance from the defense, and a lonely Benítez closed the clamp to get the winning goal.
Nashville SC always seems to have that hunger to sit down at the table ready to devour the dish, but their teeth are not enough, and it ends up collecting the leftovers while the invited diners digest the best morsels. A coyote with few teeth will always have serious problems to survive.
Before 25,240 fans at Geodis Park, this is how we saw Nashville SC:
Joe Willis (1): Solid performance by Joe, avoiding more goals, had nothing to do with the visiting team’s goals.
Walker Zimmerman (25): Performance of good and bad, his blunder allowed United to get on the scoreboard when they were not the best team on the pitch. He was also late for the second away goal.
Shaq Moore (18): He looked vulnerable through his side with the four defenders. He always adds up quite well in the offensive transition.
Dave Romney (4): Far from his best, he looks dubious in key defensive coverages that make him look bad.
Daniel Lovitz (2): Inconstant work on the left wing where he seems to climb with property at times but suffers returning to a defensive position and the rival manages to exploit his sector.
Alex Myul (19): Great effort as always. If only he had in him something of the soul of a scorer to know how to define. Clear options remain, but Alex doesn’t know what to do with them.
Dax McCarty (6): Difficult game for the captain, the rival midfield commanded by Reynoso turned out to be a headache throughout the game.
“We do a great job of getting back into the game in the second half, and when it’s 1-1, I think everybody in the stadium feels like we’re going to go on and win the game. When chances start to slip and you’re playing against a great goalkeeper, there’s always a chance that a good team with quality players can hurt you going the other way. That was what happened. It feels like a theme of our season right now. Extremely irritating. Obviously, it’s not a feeling that a lot of guys in our locker room are used to right now, so a high level of frustration is sure to happen.»
Sean Davis (54): Difficult game in the middle sector, although his effort was always there, it was positive to see a greater intention on his part to add numbers up front and try to play the ball offensively.
Randall Leal (8): His hard work on both sides of the field is his calling card, though his scoring options (he misses them, and the team needs them) just don’t show up. If the tactical pattern keeps him out of the rival’s area, Nashville SC will continue to rely more and more on Mukhtar to get the scores.
Hany Mukhtar (10): He’s still pretty much the only finishing weapon on his team and while his tally is up, it’s just not enough to beat the top teams.
CJ Sapong (17): His match is described as a waste of effort that does not end up achieving the desired objective, which is to add to the scoreboard.
Substitutions:
Anibal Godoy (20): A long time away prevented him from showing much more. Nashville needs Anibal’s contribution for many more minutes.
Ethan Zubak (83): Too little time to make a difference.
Luke Haakenson (73): Some responsibility in United’s second goal and it’s not the first time it’s happened. Somehow Luke always misses the mark on key plays.
Head Coach Gary Smith: Nashville SC seems to have lost the mark when it comes to earning points at home and while the effort from the guys is evident, there are still some historic elements showing in their performance. Gary’s team lacks or has always lacked the decisive player who can change the destiny of the team in close matches and on the field of play. They also lack that other player who, together with Mukhtar, assumes the task as the team’s scorer. When a team relies heavily on one man to put the ball in the back of the net, the chances of dropping points increase because quality opponents will always have time to finally solve Nashville’s defensive conundrum and come out on top with points from Geodis Park. Not all the chapters have been written, but every day there are fewer pages to go before the book is finished.
” Yes, a very difficult night for several reasons and probably more because we created a number of chances, and we couldn’t take advantage of them at any point to take the lead. Unfortunately, for the first time in a short time, we were also chasing the game, which created a slightly different problem and perspective for the group. But when you look, I think the way the guys have gone back to doing their stuff, dominated the ball, dominated the shots, dominated the touches, in their penalty area, unfortunately we didn’t dominate the scoring. So, there were a lot of things that we can feel good about, but of course the projection is the score sheet.”
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