Match Recap: Nashville SC stifles red hot Philadelphia Union, wins 3-1
(Image courtesy of Philadelphia Union)
The Sunday afternoon slots in Major League Soccer, while also broadcast on MLS Season Pass, are put on national network television on FOX. General audiences who don’t pay for the subscription may only watch these games. They’re carefully selected to hopefully provide some entertainment for less diehard viewers.
Nashville SC and Philadelphia Union delivered. It started early, with a 15th minute goal by Sam Surridge after he sat down two Union defenders. Then, after a poor clearance on a corner in the 33rd minute, Jovan Lukic leveled affairs with a remarkable volley.
However, Nashville would restore their lead before the break, as a chipped pass over the top from Dan Lovitz found Ahmed Qasem, who made it two goals in two starts in Gold, to give Nashville the 2-1 advantage in the 44th minute.
The second half was defined by three officiating interventions, unfortunately. The first, a challenge by Dan Lovitz on Quinn Sullivan deemed no penalty. For me, I think this should’ve been a penalty for Philadelphia.
The second, a collision between Jakob Glesnes and Hany Mukhtar that was deemed a penalty. Again, not entirely sure I agree with the ruling, but I’m not paid to officiate so I could be way off base. Mukhtar didn’t hesitate to capitalize on the opportunity, scoring a panenka in the 82nd minute.
The third, again a challenge by Lovitz, this time on Chris Donovan, deemed a penalty on the field, no review necessary. Quinn Sullivan took the spot-kick for the hosts, but was denied by Nashville’s Joe Willis, who also saved the follow up.
Thus, Philadelphia drop their first points of the year, and are also held to a season-low one goal scored. Shocking I know. Nashville on the other hand pick up their first ever win in Subaru Park, and their first win over Philadelphia since 2021.
Let’s dive in.
Lineup
(Image courtesy of Nashville SC)
As predicted by yours truly, an unchanged lineup for the Boys in Gold in this one.
Just as it was against Portland, a front four of Ahmed Qasem, Alex Muyl, Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar were supported by a midfield two of Patrick Yazbek and Eddi Tagseth.
At the back, Andy Najar joined Walker Zimmerman, Jack Maher, and Dan Lovitz as has been the case for all four games thus far. As always, Joe Willis was in goal as well.
As far as substitutes, Gastón Brugman, Teal Bunbury and Josh Bauer each came on for their second successive appearance, and actually Bunbury’s third in a row.
We also got our first 2025 look at Jacob Shaffelburg, who saw out the last 15 minutes of the game as he prepares for international duty with Canada.
The Numbers
Nashville SC
Shots- 13
Shots on target- 4
Possession- 43.9%
Corners- 2
xG- 2.3
Yellow Cards- 2 (Patrick Yazbek, Eddi Tagseth)
Portland Timbers
Shots- 11
Shots on target- 5
Possession- 56.1%
Corners- 7
xG- 2.6
Yellow Cards- 2 (Kai Wagner, Bruno Damiani)
Red Cards- 1 (Olwethu Makhanya)
Analysis
What a statement to the rest of the league, huh? My colleague at SixOneFive Soccer, Jeff Remlinger, pointed out that Nashville has now equaled their best ever start to a season, with seven points through four games.
The Boys in Gold now have two consecutive games at home, with 26th place Montréal visting on March 22nd, before 15th place Cincinnati on March 29th. Obviously, Cincinnati’s table position is not indicative of their talent level, especially when Evander and Kevin Denkey are in form, but Montréal looks incredibly vulnerable.
If you can get a win there, you’re on ten points through five games, when you’re already sitting at fifth in the East right now. A lot has been said over the offseason about how Nashville needed to show something and get results in difficult games. They did that in Philadelphia on Sunday.
We talked in the preview about the similarities between the systems of Philadelphia under Bradley Carnell and the New York Red Bulls. We asked what Nashville learned from their comprehensive defeat to those Red Bulls. Not to nick another tweet from Jeff, but they learned they can’t afford to keep the ball on the ground.
There seemed to be a pretty clear pace advantage for Nashville’s forwards against Philadelphia’s backline, and this was exacerbated especially in the first half when Nashville had what appeared to be a pretty strong wind at their backs. This wind blew the ball further up the field, directly enabling Qasem and Surridge to get on the end of the passes that resulted in their respective goals.
One of the hardest things to do when implementing a new system into a club is teaching your players the week to week adjustments. I think the schedule makers did the Boys in Gold a favor here with the trips to Philadelphia and New York coming within just a few weeks of each other. This kept the tape review of that high pressing Red Bulls system that slight bit fresher in Nashville’s minds, and perhaps enabled them to better understand how to adjust and, in the end, come away with three road points.
This is a truly impressive win for Nashville this early into the season. If they can stack results like these, perhaps in that game against Cincinnati or the road trip to Charlotte the following week, the Boys in Gold could be truly dangerous in the middle third of the year.