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Nashville SC falls to New York City FC in the penultimate game

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Nashville SC falls to New York City FC in the penultimate game

Nashville SC's season is all but over, and it felt that way on Sunday.

Nashville lost 3-1 to New York City FC at the largely empty Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, conceding three goals in less than half an hour early in the game as it suffered its third straight defeat. Nashville (8-16-9, 33 points), which was eliminated from the MLS playoffs on Saturday, has one game left, Oct. 19 at the Chicago Fire.

Nashville's slim hopes of reaching the playoffs for a fifth straight year were dashed with a 4-3 loss to DC United in Wednesday's home finale at Geodis Park, a game that NSC led 3-1 in the 75th minute. DC's victory over the New England Revolution put the finishing touches on things.

“We weren’t ready to play,” Nashville coach BJ Callaghan said. “That’s the situation we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

After a 3-0 deficit, Nashville seemed to awaken from its slumber and controlled the flow of the game for much of the final 70 minutes. Nashville was dominant, outlasting NYCFC (14-11-8, 50 points), but failed to capitalize on its 22-11 lead in shots except for Hany Mukhtar's goal in the 58th minute.

“You see and learn a lot about a group, all of us, in these difficult times,” Callaghan said. “When it's easy, it's easy, but when it's difficult, you see who stands up and how the group reacts. I think we’re happy with the response.”

No changes to the starting lineup

Even though Sunday's game was technically meaningless for Nashville, Callaghan opted for a full starting lineup. Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge led the attack while the club's other designated player, Walker Zimmerman, provided the defense.

“We're not going to train for two days to get ready for a game and just because something happens you want something to completely change what we're all about,” Callaghan said. “It was business as usual for us.”

Callaghan didn't just rely on his regular players, replacing right-back Shaq Moore for Julian Gaines at half-time. Midfielder Dru Yearwood, a frequent player under Gary Smith and Rumba Munthali who had only played a minute under Callaghan, came back into the game towards the end of the second half.

“As we continue to work here over the next two weeks, more opportunities will arise for the players,” Callaghan said.

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Nashville's defensive problems are exposed

New York City's Santiago Rodríguez scored just 18 seconds after kickoff, dribbling into the Nashville penalty area and pushing the ball past Joe Willis after failed clearance attempts by Zimmerman and Aníbal Godoy. In the 18th minute, Rodríguez increased his tally by running freely to the far post and flicking Hannes Wolf's cross into the goal.

Alonso Martínez made it 3-0 three minutes later, chesting a corner into the goal that evaded Nashville's defense.

Hany Mukhtar moves closer to the story

With his goal, a long-range shot after an assist from Jacob Shaffelburg, Mukhtar now has eight goals and ten assists in league play. The German striker needs to score twice against Chicago to become the first player in MLS history to record double-digit goals and assists in four consecutive seasons.

While 2024 was an unusually quiet season for the former MVP, things heated up in the final month of the campaign. Mukhtar has scored three goals and provided three assists in his last six games, which is in line with his performance level from 2021 to 2023.

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at [email protected] and on Twitter at @Jacob_Shames.

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