Match Recap: Nashville SC collapse late, but maintain unbeaten streak, draw NYCFC 2-2
In a rare day game at GEODIS Park, Nashville SC looked to be flying to three points before falling apart late, drawing 2-2 with New York City FC.
Sam Surridge opened the scoring in the 27th minute after a beautiful long ball from Matthew Corcoran and an equally lovely backheel from Hany Mukhtar. Surridge scored again in the 41st minute following another long ball off the foot of Corcoran, this time finding Alex Muyl who laid off to the English striker.
In the second half, tired legs gave the initiative to the visiting Pigeons, with two goals from Hannes Wolf in the 54th and 87th minutes tying it up to split the points.
Let’s dive in.
Lineup
Joe Willis started in goal, and in front of him, Walker Zimmerman made his first start since suffering his concussion in early April alongside Jack Maher, Dan Lovitz and Andy Najar.
In midfield, Matthew Corcoran was given the nod alongside Eddi Tagseth. Further changes were made to the front four, as Alex Muyl returned to the starting lineup alongside Ahmed Qasem, Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge.
Off the bench, Bryan Acosta, Patrick Yazbek, Josh Bauer, Jonathan Pérez and Wyatt Meyer took the field in front of the Nashville faithful.
The Numbers
Nashville SC
Shots: 17
Shots on goal: 5
Possession: 50.8%
Corners: 6
xG: 1.4
Yellow Cards: 1 (Bryan Acosta)
New York City FC
Shots: 13
Shots on goal: 4
Possession: 49.2%
Corners: 1
xG: 1.6
Yellow Cards: 3 (Keaton Parks, Strahinja Tanasijevic, Aiden O’Neill)
Analysis
Results around the league again helped Nashville in a game they dropped points. They drop to fourth, though that’s only because of Miami’s superior goals for tally. They actually draw one point closer to Cincinnati in 2nd place heading into this mini-break.
Sure, a draw is incredibly, incredibly disappointing, but Nashville is in a very good position for that to be the case. This is a team that, in preseason, very few had pegged for top-four contention. Not even I did.
They’re a serious contender for that group at the halfway mark. Tip of the cap to B.J. Callaghan and co. in that, even after a disappointing result in which you blew a 2-0 lead.
Simply put, Nashville ran out of gas. Eddi Tagseth came off at half, after having run about a billion miles in the month of May, and the same for Hany Mukhtar late. This left Nashville vulnerable, and NYCFC capitalized. Simple as that really.
The second half of the 2025 season starts for Nashville on June 12th, as they hit the road to take on Chicago at Soldier Field, one of just three games they’ll play this month of June.
We’ll see you then, but keep your eyes peeled for Huntsville this weekend, as they return to play June 6th against Orlando City B, and of course we’ll have coverage of that one for you. Until then, see you later!