CINCINNATI (Oct. 27, 2021) – Nashville Soccer Club (12W-4L-16D; 52 points) scored six total goals, five of which were unanswered after going down early to FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night at TQL Stadium. CJ Sapong and Randall Leal each recorded a brace, Walker Zimmerman had a goal and an assist on the night, and Aké Loba scored his first-career MLS goal.
The MVP is Back: Hany Mukhtar returned from his one-game suspension to record three assists for Nashville SC. Mukhtar now has 14 goals and 12 assists, making him the only MLS player this season to have reached double-digits in each category (stat courtesy of Ben Wright from Broadway Sports). Mukhtar leads the Boys in Gold in goals with 14, assists with 12, shots with 86 and shots on target with 40.
He Does it All: Reigning MLS Defender of the Year Walker Zimmerman recorded his third goal of the season and his second assist of the season. Zimmerman led Nashville SC’s backline with five interceptions and six clearances on Wednesday night. Zimmerman has scored all three of his goals this season with his head. Nashville SC owns a record of 8W-4L-11D with Zimmerman in the lineup this season.
Four Between Them: Randall Leal scored his first brace of the season and recorded two assists on the night. Leal has now scored four goals and recorded three assists against FC Cincinnati in the 2021 MLS season. This moves Leal’s goal total to eight and his assist total to eight. Sapong recorded his third brace of the season and brought his double-digit goal total up to 12.
Nashville SC will travel to face Orlando City SC on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 3 p.m. CT at Exploria Stadium. Fans can follow all of the action by tuning in to UniMas / TUDN or streamed on Twitter via @MLS, as well as ESPN 94.9 (English radio) or El Jefe (Spanish radio).
Match Timeline
CIN 6’: Brandon Vázquez sends in a ball that takes a deflection off of Dave Romney past Joe Willis for an own goal
CIN 17’: Brenner converts a penalty kick
NSH 28’: Hany Mukhtar delivers a free kick and Walker Zimmerman finds the ball in the air to slip into the lower right corner of the net
CIN 32’: Brandon Vázquez broke away from the Nashville SC backline to send a shot past Joe Willis
NSH 45+2’: Randall Leal drills the ball off a deflection outside of the 18-yard box to find the back of the net
NSH 71’: Hany Mukhar delivers another free kick and Walker Zimmerman nods down a ball to CJ Sapong, who sends the ball into the left corner of the net as he is going to ground
NSH 80’: Aké Loba receives a ball from Randall Leal and takes it downfield to slot the ball past Cincinnati’s goalkeeper
