Three points from a three-goal thriller.
The Boys in Gold played out a classic with Charlotte FC Saturday night in North Carolina, battling to a well-earned 2-1 win that keeps them alone atop the Eastern Conference and within a game of the Supporters’ Shield lead. It was a win which exhibited the best characteristics of this dogged Nashville SC group, positioning it superbly ahead of a Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal second leg in Mexico this week.
Here’s what we learned.
Tagseth’s time to shine
There are few things Eddi Tagseth can’t do on a soccer pitch. He’s as tenacious as anyone in MLS, runs on a motor even the finest auto manufacturers would envy and possesses a passing range and close-control ability that make him effectively press-proof. No Nashville player had a higher plus-minus than Tagseth in 2025, including MLS Golden Boot runner-up Sam Surridge or 2022 MVP Hany Mukhtar. But for all his quality, there was one glaring absence from the Norwegian’s game: goals.
No longer.
Needing a score to preserve his team’s status atop the Eastern Conference, Tagseth snuck to the top of the 18-yard box and waited for fellow midfielder Patrick Yazbek to dance around the Charlotte defense before sending the ball Tagseth’s way. The ensuing strike in the 14th minute was venomous: a left-footed bullet which arrowed into the top-left corner of the net, steadily rising upward and out of the goalkeeper’s reach with a perfect touch of backspin. If Cristian Espinoza’s long-range goal against Orlando doesn’t win it, Tagseth’s opener on Saturday has a serious MLS Goal of the Year case.
It was a well-deserved moment for a player who has been among Nashville’s best since joining the club. But beyond that, it was a goal which continued to prove the Boys in Gold’s title credentials and strength in depth. Even without any of its Designated Players in the starting lineup, a pair of Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals lurking either side of Saturday’s match and one of the league’s most dominant sides in front of it, Nashville found a breakthrough. Winning in unlikely ways is what separates elite teams from great ones — and a 25-yard missile from a player yet to score is as unlikely as they come.
Nashville’s linchpin
Nashville’s midfield was so dominant Saturday that Tagseth’s counterpart deserves his own section of praise. Tagseth may have had the shot of the night, but Yazbek had the performance of the night, playing a role in both goals and acting centrally to all good things his team did across a masterful 90 minutes. Yazbek, like Tagseth, is a boundless human battery. But where his teammate’s game largely focuses on dirty work, the Australian has made a name for himself this season as one of Nashville’s most daring players, darting from defense deep into the opposition’s box and affecting the game everywhere in between.
He nearly opened the scoring with a tight-angled shot inside three minutes on Saturday after some clever interchanges with Ahmed Qasem. His delicate touches set up Tagseth’s opener. And out of halftime, his own marauding run from the halfway line ended on the edge of the box, where he hammered a right-footed shot goalward that deflected before nestling in the far corner. That marked his fourth goal contribution of the MLS season, a figure equaled or eclipsed only by Warren Madrigal, Mukhtar, Espinoza and Surridge.
The importance of Yazbek on Saturday and this season cannot be overstated. He was one of just four players head coach B.J. Callaghan kept in the starting lineup from Tuesday’s draw against Club América, has started all but two MLS games (one after returning home from international duty) and is Nashville’s highest-rated midfielder in the league, according to FotMob. The 24-year-old has shown himself to be a true everyman on a team with a claim as the best in MLS.
The best win of the season?
One of the beauties of soccer is that it is a sport which is rarely made — or broken — by the result of one game. Three points in February count the same as three in October. But the Boys in Gold have played more high-pressure games in 2026 than many teams will play this entire season and, broadly, passed with flying colors. They won their MLS opener 4-1 and their first-round Champions Cup matchup 7-0 on aggregate, took down Inter Miami across two legs with a hard-fought draw in Florida in the Round of 16 and held Club América goalless in the quarterfinal first leg, setting up a make-or-break second game in Mexico City this week. Many of those results could in one way or another be spun as Nashville’s best of the season. But the nature of Saturday’s win should absolutely add it to that list — if not top it.
Charlotte has finished in the top five of the Eastern Conference each of the last two seasons and sat in third ahead of kickoff, having scored 12 goals through six games and dropping just two points at home, a 0-0 draw with the reigning MLS Cup champions. Except for superstar forward Wilfried Zaha, the Crown fielded a full-strength lineup. Nashville, meanwhile, opted for a rotated squad because of its high-octane match with América midweek, preserving just four starters. And yet, you’d be hard-pressed to tell which squad was the one managing minutes, with the Boys in Gold dominating possession and passing stats, scoring a pair of screaming goals and handing their hosts their first home loss of the season.
Similar tests to Saturday beckon soon — Tuesday’s match against América chief among them. And while each will present their own series of difficulties, few will offer the cocktail Charlotte did Saturday. Nashville’s comfort in handling the match is as much a testament to its quality as its preparation. Bring on the lot.
NEXT HOME MATCH
