Match Recap: Familiar scoreline, much better result as Nashville SC power past Real Salt Lake 2-1
Nashville SC entered Saturday night’s home stand against Real Salt Lake having taken two consecutive 2-1 defeats. In both those games, they were arguably the better side and couldn’t take advantage.
The script was flipped on Saturday as the Boys in Gold, by another 2-1 scoreline, came away with all three points. Let’s dive in.
Lineup
Jeisson Palacios slotted in at centerback for the injured captain Walker Zimmerman who missed out as he works through concussion protocol. Joining him at the back was, as has been the case for just about every game this year, the trio of Jack Maher, Dan Lovitz and Andy Najar, with Joe Willis in goal.
Eddi Tagseth and Gastón Brugman were the midfield pairing again after starting together in last week’s defeat at Charlotte, with a front four of Sam Surridge, Hany Mukhtar, Alex Muyl and Ahmed Qasem ahead of them.
Three subsitutions were made through the course of the game by head coach B.J. Callaghan, as Jacob Shaffelburg came on for Qasem, and Patrick Yazbek came on for Muyl.
This, for the first time all year, shifted Nashville into more of a 4-3-3 than their typical 4-2-4. However it was short lived, as when Jonathan Pérez came on late for Brugman, the Boys in Gold returned to their familiar shape.
Between the Whistles
Nashville has made a habit in 2025 of starting fast. While the game did, as we have grown to expect, start fast, it was actually the visitors piling on the chances, with the best falling to Dominik Marczuk, who missed the target from very close. However, he would make amends in the 12th minute, as he got on the end of a spilled save from Nashville keeper Joe Willis, and tucked home.
Then, in the 30th minute, Nashville was given a corner, which was taken by Eddi Tagseth. The ball floated into the middle of the box where it was headed in quite brilliantly by Dan Lovitz to even the scores.
Nashville would have a couple more chances before the halftime interval, but to no avail. This theme would follow with a hot start out of the locker room, but again nothing to show for it.
In the 71st minute, RSL thought they’d found their way back into the lead as Marczuk fired a ball across the face of goal for Jesus Barea to tap home, but Marczuk was offside in the buildup.
More Nashville dominance followed, finally crescendoed by a penalty given for a foul on Hany Mukhtar just as the clock ticked into stoppage time. Mukhtar, wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of Walker Zimmerman, handed the ball to Sam Surridge, who placed it down, struck it well, and gave the Boys in Gold a late winner they deserved.
The Numbers
Nashville SC
Shots- 16
Shots on target- 7
Possession- 46.2%
xG- 3.1
Yellow Cards- 3 (Eddi Tagseth, Hany Mukhtar, Gastón Brugman)
Real Salt Lake
Shots- 11
Shots on target- 5
Possession- 53.8%
xG- 1.2
Yellow Cards- 1 (Braian Ojeda)
Analysis
Nashville, overall, was again a very, very good team. The first quarter of an hour, or at least until Marczuk’s goal for RSL, was very sloppy. The next 75 minutes largely belonged to the hosts.
Hats off to Jeisson Palacios, making his second Nashville appearance, and first start. He played incredibly well, and his performance makes me feel much, much more secure about Nashville’s depth at the back.
The midfield pair of Tagseth and Brugman, while they struggled with the pace and strength of RSL’s midfield pair of Ojeda and Eneli at times, once again dictated the run of play expertly for the Boys in Gold.
This team creates tons and tons of chances. It’s pure liquid football. Every touch has a purpose, and again you have to give credit to the job B.J. Callaghan has done to make this team completely unrecognizable to the Nashville side he inherited.
While a draw would’ve been fair, a win was deserved for the Boys in Gold, who elevate themselves to 6th in the Eastern Conference, and level on points with Philadelphia ahead of them.
Next up for the Boys in Gold is a trip across the continent and a road date with the Seattle Sounders, a building Nashville has played in just once before. We’ll discuss that later in the week to come!