Nashville, TN – Coming off a 3–1 road victory in Philadelphia last week, Nashville SC returned home to Geodis Park and gave the home crowd of 25,301 a show, shutting out CF Montréal 3–0.
In the first half, the kickoff was about the only time CF Montréal was able to control the ball. Nashville SC commanded the flow of play for the majority of the opening 45 minutes with a lopsided 70.6% possession. Unfortunately, it was not enough to put any points on the scoreboard.
This wasn’t for lack of trying, obviously — that’s what they’re there to do. Near the 9-minute mark, NSC goalie Joe Willis opted to play the ball in the box instead of covering it. This led to a steal from CFM forward Prince Owusu, who snatched the ball and hoped for an easy tap-in. Those hopes were quickly dashed by center back Jack Maher, who rushed in to back up his keeper in the net and cleared the ball. That... well, that’s about as exciting as it got for a little while.
The slow start was evident when the most exciting thing about the first half was the random power outages at the park. For some unknown reason, the entire venue went dark for a full second about every four and a half minutes. From where I was, more attention was being paid to when the next blackout was due to arrive than to the uneventful playing on the field.
Then came the second half. A much different tale indeed. The match went from lights going out to a team playing lights out. Less than ten minutes after the break, Nashville SC midfielder Alex Muyl got the ball rolling (yes, pun intended — maybe a little lazy, but it works!) when he broke free in the box going one-on-one against CF Montréal’s Jonathan Sirois. A quick low shot past the visiting keeper put the ball in the bottom right corner of the net, igniting the home team and the crowd.
Nashville SC coach B.J. Callaghan would acknowledge the change in the second half by saying, “Credit to the guys for sticking with it. It isn’t easy.” Fair enough. However, they spent the better part of the next twelve minutes making it look easy.
Taking the corner kick soon after goal number one, Nashville SC favorite Hany Mukhtar placed it perfectly in the air for defenseman Josh Bauer to find with his head and bury in the goal. Bauer gave credit where it was due, stating it was a “great delivery from Hany.” Yet, after a couple of misses in previous matches, he noted,
“I definitely felt that I was overdue.”
While a two-point lead should feel comfortable on the pitch, it’s probably not comfortable enough. For the second time, an NSC player was able to blow past the CFM defense. This time it was right winger Jonathan Perez, who the coach said only “found out he would be playing at 5:45 p.m.” — less than two hours before kickoff. Perez showed he deserved the start when his shot crossed the goalie, twisting him up, and the ball touched the left side of the net.
The shutout gives Nashville SC its best season start for the franchise thus far, at 3–1–1. This will likely give them an added boost when they face FC Cincinnati at home on March 29.
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