NASHVILLE - The past week for the Boys in Gold started with a pat on the back and ended with a nose to the grindstone.
As a result, Nashville SC enters the final week of the regular season on a five-match unbeaten run and in prime position to enter the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs with plenty of momentum.
Nashville SC clinched a playoff spot on Wednesday following a Tuesday victory over Montreal Impact and some helpful results around the league. Then the work began to earn the best seed possible, which will continue into the final week of the regular season after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with a Chicago Fire FC side desperate to earn a playoff spot of its own. After the weekend’s action, Nashville sits in seventh place in the Eastern Conference and is in position to potentially host a play-in round match or earn a bye, if it can move up to the sixth seed.
Head Coach Gary Smith admits the team’s performance against Chicago wasn’t perfect, but in a long grind of a season, he says he’s proud of the grit that was on display.
“We knew it was going to be a very, very tough night,” Smith said. “I have watched this Chicago team evolve and develop, and they are an extremely footballing side. I always felt that we were going to have our hands full tonight. Their possession and ability to get down the flanks as well was causing us problems. One or two things that weren’t quite right on our right and time. All in all, we can safely say it wasn’t our best night at the office, but we were able to show some of the qualities that we have before. Foundationally strong, spirited, and that will earn us a point tonight.”
Nashville’s lone goal came from Daniel Ríos, who has four goals on the season, all of which have come at home. He got on the end of a high-bouncing Randall Leal cross, flicked the ball with his head and put it into the far corner of the net through traffic to give Nashville SC a lead in the first half.
Smith says he is delighted with how Ríos has elevated his game since returning from injury.
“Daniel Ríos’ movement in the penalty area was very, very good,” Smith said. “He gets across his defender, he still has an awful lot to do and he guides and glances that header towards the back post. It was almost perfect center-forward play. I have got to say, with Daniel’s output in front of the goal, his ability to be a goal threat and certainly some of his qualities since coming back from his injury, he’s moving in a very, very good direction. I am delighted with where he is at.”
Aside from the goal, Nashville’s offense was stopped by Chicago, and the defense held strong to secure the draw through a second-half barrage. Ríos says the team will learn from what went wrong on Saturday night, but will also be satisfied knowing it put in a solid effort to secure a point.
“It was a difficult game, there were some hard times when we couldn’t control the game because we were not retaining the ball as well as we should,” Ríos said. “This is part of how the game went and we need to understand and know that we need to do better if we want to have easier moments. There were hard moments in this game but at the end it was a good point for us.”
Nashville SC wraps up its regular season home slate this Wednesday against FC Dallas at 7:30 p.m. CT. Limited tickets are available now.
