Match Recap: Nashville SC throttle CF Montréal to 3-0 home win

(Image courtesy of Steve Roberts, Imagn Images)

Electricity issues plagued the first half of Nashville SC’s encounter with CF Montréal, with the lights going out at GEODIS Park five times. But after the break, Nashville put the electricity on the field, and picked up a third consecutive win. That win pushes Nashville into fourth in the Eastern Conference, with ten points from their first five matches.

Let’s dive in.

Lineup

(Image courtesy of Nashville SC)

There were three changes to the Nashville lineup from the win at Philadelphia last weekend, as Gastón Brugman, Josh Bauer and Jonathan Pérez all made their first starts of the season in place of Ahmed Qasem and Patrick Yazbek, both of whom suffering from illness. Josh Bauer

Joining Pérez on the front line was a familiar trio of Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge and Alex Muyl. Partnering Brugman in the middle was Eddi Tagseth, with Bauer supporting Walker Zimmerman, Dan Lovitz, and Jack Maher at the back.

As always Joe Willis remained ever present in goal.

Between the Whistles

Aside from the aforementioned electrical issues in GEODIS Park, truthfully not much happened in the first half. That being said, Joe Willis nearly gave up an own goal to put the visitors in front, but it was cleared off the line by Jack Maher.

After the break, Nashville gained firm control. First to the scoresheet was Alex Muyl, who got on the end of a clever flick from Sam Surridge to score in the 56th minute.

Six minutes later, it was a corner for the hosts, played to the front post by Hany Mukhtar. At that spot, Walker Zimmerman nodded it back where it found the head of Josh Bauer, who put the hosts two to the good.

Five minutes after that, Mukhtar laid off to Jonathan Pérez who fired a shot to the far post, which sealed three points with Nashville’s third goal.

The Numbers

Nashville SC

Shots- 14

Shots on target- 7

Possession- 66.5%

Corners- 5

xG- 1.1

Yellow Cards- None

CF Montréal

Shots- 9

Shots on target- 2

Possession- 33.5%

Corners- 3

xG- 0.7

Yellow Cards- 1 (Victor Loturi)

Analysis

Nashville have now collected three wins from their last three, and sit in fourth in the East, in addition to fifth in the Supporter’s Shield table.

It’s early, very early in fact, but the returns look incredible for Nashville’s offseason overhaul thus far. Eddi Tagseth has immediately established himself as an undroppable figure in the starting 11, Gastón Brugman was very impressive in this game, Ahmed Qasem already has two goals in as many starts, the list goes on.

Hats must go off to Jonathan Pérez who found out just before warmups that he would start, and he rewarded BJ Callaghan’s trust with a goal, his first in MLS. Hats off also to Josh Bauer, who filled in for Andy Najar at right back and also scored his first MLS goal.

In the first half, Nashville tried a lot of long balls, which worked against Philadelphia. They didn’t here, and Montréal used the pace and athleticism of their backline to frustrate Nashville.

At halftime, the Boys in Gold adjusted just a bit, relying less on balls over the top of Montréal’s three-at-the-back defense. This worked wonders, of course supplying a trio of goals, but more importantly drastically improving chance creation.

Brugman supplied a different element to Nashville’s attack from midfield with his passing range, which has long been a strength in his career. This is of course in contrast to Patrick Yazbek, whom Brugman replaced in the starting lineup, who is much more reliant on his pressing and positional awareness to contribute to the attack.

Both are valuable, and of course Nashville has ridden both playstyles to wins in recent weeks. What this offers the Boys in Gold is options, something they have sorely lacked in recent years, especially in midfield.

For the last two and a half years, Nashville has been incredibly one note in attack, and things look vastly different in 2025. Shout to my SixOneFive Soccer colleague Jeff Remlinger for noting that Nashville would only need to average just a hair over one point per game from here to the end of the season to equal Atlanta United’s haul from 2024. That 40 point total put the Five Stripes into the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference last season.

That’s the theoretical benchmark to reach to make the playoffs this season as well, and it looks like Nashville are well ahead of that. If you’ll remember, I predicted the Boys in Gold to finish sixth in the conference, highest among anyone on our staff here.

That looks to be the rough range Nashville will sit in for the time being, so I’ll hold off on patting myself on the back for now. But, my hand is hovering above my shoulder, for the record.