Three goals. Three points. Eyes on game three.
Nashville SC had endured a rare winless run heading into Sunday night’s match at GEODIS Park. Prior to Sunday, the Boys in Gold — already Concacaf Champions Cup semifinalists and the lone leaders of MLS — hadgone just over two weeks without a triumph in all competitions, punctuated by a 1-0 defeat to Club León to open their Leagues Cup campaign. Had it failed to win in regulation on Sunday, its third game of Phase One would be little more than a formality.
But as it so often has this season, Nashville found a way through. Fielding the healthiest squad they have in months, the Boys in Gold overcame an early deficit from Atlético de San Luis 4-1 in front of their home crowd, reigniting their momentum and keeping them in contention for the Leagues Cup knockout rounds.
No doubt the story of Sunday’s game was the reintroduction of many traditional starters into head coach B.J. Callaghan’s initial XI. Just five days removed from a lineup that carried zero players over from last weekend’s draw at D.C. United, the Boys in Gold instead opted to field three of their four MLS All-Stars, their entire first line of defense as well as Designated Player Cristian Espinoza. The Argentine had not played for Nashville since May due to injury but waltzed onto the field Sunday looking healthy as ever, ready to make the devastating impact he so often does from the right side of the attack.
The two-time All-Star and Nashville’s marquee signing of the 2026 offseason was all over San Luis from the opening whistle. Mirrored by Elias Saad — a standout loanee in his own right — on the left flank, the Boys in Gold possessed a trickery and speed in offense that created a nervy evening for the visitors’ defense.
Unsurprisingly, Espinoza and Saad were the two central actors in Nashville’s first goal just after the 35-minute mark. Saad, who started twice for Tunisia at this summer’s FIFA World Cup, slid an inch-perfect through pass to Espinoza as he ghosted into the box, wrapping his weaker left foot around the ball as it arced off the post and into the far corner. That goal marked both the first goal contribution of Saad’s Nashville career as well as Espinoza’s first since May, kickstarting the 11-minute onslaught that would seal Nashville’s eventual win.
The second punch came within moments. Unlike Espinoza’s goal, however, Sam Surridge’s was less a product of great interplay and more a product of great reflexes. A fortuitous bounce off Eddi Tagseth’s boot as a San Luis defender attempted to clear gave the Englishman just enough time to straighten himself and get airborne, meeting the lofted ball with a powerful header that settled in the top corner.
And then, on the cusp of halftime, arrived the third.
The setup again came from some excellent work by Saad, who danced around the edge of the box before being taken down to set up an ideal free kick opportunity with just seconds in the half to play. The placement looked near identical to a pair of free kicks Hany Mukhtar scored in a 3-2 win against LAFC this spring: a few feet to the left of the D with just enough room to get a shot over the wall. With Mukhtar on the bench and Espinoza donning the captain’s armband in his stead, the Argentine stepped up to take it and pulled a similar bit of magic out of his right foot, tracing a shot into the top right corner to send his team up 3-1.
The match developed serenely from there for the hosts, who rarely felt threatened by San Luis’ offense as they chased the game. That wasn’t as true in the first half, though. San Luis, even with Nashville’s preferred defensive tandem of Jeisson Palacios and Maxwell Woledzi intact, was the one to strike first. It came against the run of play, too; Nashville had done well to that point to repel San Luis’ through passes and muscle forwards off the ball. But a back pass from Surridge to Tagseth found its way to Rafa Llorente in the 18th minute, who jinked around Palacios before placing a shot just out of Brian Schwake’s reach into the bottom-right corner.
Nashville thus found itself in a position it rarely has this season: behind on home soil. The defeat to León was the first time Nashville had dropped points at home in any competition since a draw to D.C. in May. But like that match, in which they scored twice in the final 15 minutes to equalize, the Boys in Gold dug deep to fight back on Sunday. A Reed Baker-Whiting goal just before 90 minutes, which he celebrated with a shirt-tug and a yell, served as fitting exclamation point to a statement evening from a revitalized Nashville group.
Nashville, again, has a short rest before returning to GEODIS Park for the third Phase One match of Leagues Cup against Monterrey on Wednesday evening. Should the Boys in Gold win and results around the competition fall their way, they would advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2023, when they reached the title game.
NEXT HOME MATCH
Nashville SC vs CF Monterrey
Wednesday, Aug. 12 at GEODIS Park | 7 p.m.
Leagues Cup 2026, Phase One
