ORLANDO, Fla. (Oct. 31, 2021) – Nashville Soccer Club (12W-4L-17D) earned a hard-fought road result on Sunday afternoon against Orlando City SC, at Exploria Stadium. With the result Nashville SC is tied with the Philadelphia Union for second place in points with 53.
MVP-MVP-MVP: Hany Mukhtar recorded his 15th goal of the season on Sunday afternoon tie the contest at one. This comes directly off the back of a three-assist performance in a mid-week competition against FC Cincinnati. Mukhtar currently leads MLS in combined goals and assists with 27. Mukhtar also leads Nashville SC in goals (15), assists (12), shots (89) and shots on target (41).
Two Years Two Playoffs: Nashville SC clinched its berth in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive season as an MLS franchise after its historic 6-3 victory over FC Cincinnati on Wednesday, Oct. 27. With this playoff berth, Nashville SC is just the fourth team in the modern MLS expansion era to reach the post-season in its first two seasons, back-to-back. The other three teams include Atlanta United FC, LAFC and Seattle Sounders FC.
Decision Day: Nashville SC returns home on Nov. 7, Decision Day, to face New York Red Bulls for the final competition of the MLS 2021 regular season. The Boys in Gold will enter this competition with a full week of rest and training after playing five matches in fifteen days.
Nashville SC will return home to face New York Red Bulls for a final home competition of the MLS 2021 regular season on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 2:30 p.m. CT. Fans can purchase tickets at https://www.nashvillesc.com/tickets/match.
Match Timeline
ORL 18’: Daryl Dike receives a ball from a connection between Nani and Chris Mueller at the top of the 6-yard box and slots the ball home to the back of the net
NSH 53’: Randall Leal and CJ Sapong connect to send a ball to Hany Mukhtar, who drives the ball forward in the box and fires a shot into the left corner of the net
Notes
- Nashville SC owns an all-time record of 4W-2L-8D in October
- Nashville SC owns a season record of 3W-3L-8D when conceding first
- Nashville SC has earned 16 road points since Aug. 28
- Hany Mukhtar is one of only two players in MLS to have reached double-digits in goals + assists this season with (15) and (12) (Rusnák of Real Salt Lake has also reached this mark)
- Hany Mukhtar and CJ Sapong both have hit the double-digit mark in goals recorded this season, with 15 and 11 respectively
- Head Coach Gary Smith owns an overall record of 22W-12L-25D as manager of Nashville SC
- Joe Willis leads MLS in clean sheets with 13
- Walker Zimmerman is now within one goal of his career-high goal total (4) for a season, set in 2016 with FC Dallas and matched in 2018 with Los Angeles FC
- Walker Zimmerman led Nashville SC’s defense with six clearances, five possessions gained, and four shots including two on target
- Dave Romney remains the only Nashville SC outfield player to have seen all 2,970 minutes of the 2021 Nashville SC season and all 5,280 minutes of Nashville SC’s MLS history
BOX SCORE
Nashville SC 12W-4L-17D vs. Orlando City SC 12W-9L-12
October 31, 2021 – Exploria Stadium
Final Score
NSH: 1
ORL: 1
Scoring Summary
ORL: Daryl Dike 18’
NSH: Hany Mukhtar 53’
Discipline
NSH: Walker Zimmerman (caution) 40’
ORL: Sebastian Méndez (caution) 49’
NSH: Alistair Johnston (caution) 56’
ORL: Júnior Urso (caution) 57’
Lineups
NSH: Joe Willis; Dave Romney, Jack Maher, Eric Miller, Walker Zimmerman (C) , Hany Mukhtar (Luke Haakenson 90’+1’), Alistair Johnston, Alex Muyl (Brian Anunga 81’), Aníbal Godoy, Randall Leal (Jhonder Cádiz 81’), CJ Sapong (Aké Loba 72’)
Unused Substitutes: Jalil Anibaba; Abu Danladi, Dylan Nealis, Matt LaGrassa, Bryan Meredith
ORL: Pedro Gallese; Ruan (Kyle Smith 90’+1’), E. Más, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, Sebastian Méndez (Alexandre Pato 86’), Chris Mueller (Benji Michel 74’), Mauricio Pereyra (Andres Perea 90’+1’), Júnior Urso, Nani (C) (Silvester van der Water 90’+1’), Daryl Dike
Unused Substitutes: Tesho Akindele; Rodrigo Schlegel, Mason Stajduhar, Joey DeZart
