Say hello to your league leaders.
Barely four days removed from its biggest win of the MLS season to that point, Nashville SC secured another monumental victory Sunday night at GEODIS Park, overcoming LAFC 3-2 to place itself alone atop the Supporters’ Shield standings. The Boys in Gold have now amassed 30 points through 13 games and are the only side yet to lose at home in MLS play following Seattle Sounders’ 2-0 home defeat to LA Galaxy on Saturday.
The immense attacking talent on display from Nashville and LAFC billed Sunday’s match as a battle of forwards. Between Hany Mukhtar, Cristian Espinoza, Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-Min, both sides had more than enough firepower to make this matchup a shootout. And while the lead never changed hands, Sunday certainly delivered on the goals and entertainment front.
LAFC enjoyed the best chance of the opening 10 minutes. Son Heung-Min, the league’s leader in assists heading into Sunday’s match, found space on the counterattack and rushed toward the Nashville goal as several Boys in Gold tailed him, forcing goalkeeper Brian Schwake into a spectacular close-range save with his outstretched arm.
The visitors continued to pepper Nashville’s goal and apply a relentless press as the Boys in Gold sought to build from the back. But the speed of their wide players and synchronicity of the hosts’ midfield allowed them to break through LAFC’s lines and threaten on the counter, eventually leading to a breakthrough just after the 12-minute mark.
Jeisson Palacios got the move started, slaloming down the right side to the halfway line before playing in Hany Mukhtar. The German weaved his way through LAFC’s defensive midfield and shuttled the ball to Warren Madrigal — camped on the edge of the box with his back to the goal — who took two touches before slipping a pass back to Mukhtar to slot it home.
Mukhtar found the net once again moments later with an even more spectacular finish, curling in a free kick from the left edge of the box past Thomas Hasal into the near corner. That goal marked the 100th of Mukhtar’s illustrious Music City career, handing him a milestone as vital as the advantage he helped build.
LAFC wouldn’t quit, though. Venezuelan winger David Martinez blitzed past Nashville’s defense to cut the deficit to 2-1, forcing an anxious end to a first half which in the moments after Mukhtar’s brace appeared serene. The Boys in Gold’s back line held firm, carrying that scoreline into a second half which looked poised to deliver just as many fireworks — or, given the halftime entertainment, drone-works — as the first.
To start, at least, that assumption proved incorrect. The swashbuckling, chance-laden, high-flying offensive nature of the opening frame made way for a more composed run of play through the first 15 minutes of the second. Bedlam soon resumed, however, as Nashville once more made LAFC pay around the edge of the 18.
A sweeping cross from the right flank found Madrigal, who was dragged down after a deft first touch, earning Ryan Porteous a yellow card and Mukhtar another free kick from a dangerous position. The captain stepped over the ball, wrapped his foot around it and curled a shot into the far-right corner, securing the fifth hat trick of his Nashville career and a 3-1 lead for his team. Like the first half, that two-goal buffer lasted barely 10 minutes, as an LAFC corner routine found Denis Bouanga to claw one back.
Nashville’s defense stood tall to see the game out from that point, with each of Jeisson Palacios, Maxwell Woledzi, Dan Lovitz and Reed Baker-Whiting working overtime to shut down wave upon wave of LAFC attacks. Schwake produced another series of superb stops as well, including a stunning denial of Ryan Hollingshead in the game’s dying embers with his left hand.
The Boys in Gold return to GEODIS Park next weekend for an Eastern Conference clash with New York City FC, scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT.
NEXT HOME MATCH
Nashville SC vs NYCFC
Saturday, May 23 at GEODIS Park | 7:30 p.m.
