Dreamland at the Dreamhouse.
Nashville SC and Minnesota produced a blockbuster clash befitting its Barbie Game Day™ billing at GEODIS Park Saturday night, combining for three goals in the first half en route to a 3-1 victory for the Boys in Gold. The win continues a record-breaking start to the season for Nashville, which remains unbeaten in 2026 having scored a club-best 14 goals through five games (four wins, one draw).
Saturday’s match was an intense, back-and-forth affair from the jump, played primarily in each team’s offensive third. The Boys in Gold came close to opening the scoring multiple times within the first 15 minutes, with Cristian Espinoza and Hany Mukhtar dragging shots wide of the post after stellar bits of individual play. Sam Surridge thought he put Nashville ahead after an Eddi Tagseth shot in the 18th minute was parried away, but the flag raised for offside.
It didn’t take much longer for Nashville’s silky passing sequences and relentless pressure to pay dividends. Mukhtar worked his way down the right wing in the 26th minute and laid a perfect back-heeled pass to Patrick Yazbek, who wrapped his left foot around the ball toward the far post for Surridge to poke in. That goal marked the Englishman’s third of the early MLS season as well as Yazbek’s first assist in 2026, handing the Boys in Gold a well-deserved 1-0 lead.
They weren’t done yet, either. New Designated Player Cristian Espinoza raced down the right wing not seven minutes later, pouncing on a rebounded shot to rifle Nashville’s second goal — and his first for the club — into the roof of the net to make it 2-0. Yazbek produced another scintillating creative sequence on the right edge of the box within two minutes of the second-half restart, before fizzing a ball toward Surridge, which the striker punched mercilessly into the side netting to bump Nashville’s edge to 3-1. Game, set, match.
Yazbek’s pair of assists capped a remarkable all-round evening for the Aussie and the rest of Nashville’s engine room. Tagseth, affectionately called the “Norwegian Nuisance” by supporters, was his typical rambunctious self at the base of midfield alongside Alex Muyl, hounding Minnesota throughout the match with an energy the visitors struggled to contain. Minnesota’s first-half verve waned substantially in the second frame, in large part a product of Nashville’s suffocating trio in the center of the pitch.
Minnesota pulled a goal back before halftime with a scorching effort from outside the box. But other than that chance, Nashville’s defense stood mightily throughout a game dominated by prolonged attacking pressure. The Loons found themselves with a few decent chances in the first half around the 18-yard box before and after scoring, but Brian Schwake, Jeisson Palacios and Maxwell Woledzi were more then up to the task of repelling them.
Schwake could do nothing to stop Minnesota’s goal, and otherwise controlled tempo from the back with his composed passing and calmness in one-on-one situations. Palacios was his usual towering self, winning countless headers on Minnesota long-balls. And Woledzi, quickly becoming a fan-favorite following his winter move from Norwegian club Fredrikstad FK, was a constant threat with his dribbling ability and recovery pace. He also produced one of the game’s most exceptional bits of defensive awareness: a back-heel on the run to halt a Minnesota attack in the 21st minute.
The Boys in Gold stay in Music City, preparing for a Wednesday matchup against Inter Miami in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 ahead of a Saturday evening trip to Columbus Crew.
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