Photo credit: Courtesy of Nashville SC
An ugly match for Nashville SC against New York Red Bulls played out on Saturday night for both sides as Nashville failed to threaten New York’s goal. Meanwhile, Red Bulls likely feel unlucky to walk away from the match with only one point after drawing an ineffective Nashville side, 0-0.
Several key players were unavailable for Nashville with Copa America 2024 set to commence next week, and as Saturday proved, interim head coach Rumba Munthali will quickly need to account for his side’s vacancies — Saturday’s performance proved Nashville’s current squad does not provide enough firepower to get the job done and win matches in Major League Soccer with zero shots on target.
Initial Thoughts
On paper, a Nashville result was going to be tricky from the onset. New York came into the match in search of sole possession of third place in the East while the Boys in Gold were clawing for the ninth playoff spot. With Shaq Moore, Aníbal Godoy and Jacob Shaffelburg all unavailable for selection due to international obligations, Munthali’s squad entered Saturday’s contest already at a disadvantage.
Nashville’s win over FC Cincinnati in its last road match marked only the first win of the season for Nashville away from Geodis Park, and having never beaten Red Bulls in MLS play, a win on Saturday appeared especially daunting.
However, two weeks of rest between matches could have proved a difference maker for Nashville as New York was forced into action the weekend prior at New England, a match that resulted in an undesirable 1-0 outcome for Sandro Schwarz’s side and disrupted a two-match win streak for the club from Harrison, New Jersey.
The Run of Play
There is relatively little to say about the first half from a Nashville SC perspective other than the Boys in Gold were outshot 9-0, equating a precise 0.0 xG for Nashville. Sam Surridge was limited to only 13 touches up top while Hany Mukhtar made himself marginally more available with 14. That is not a recipe for a successful outing for Nashville.
It appeared Red Bulls had opened the scoring in the 25’ minute, but 2021 Nashville man Dylan Nealis’ goal was overturned due to a handball call in which the near goalscorer was ruled the denier of his own success.
Throughout the second half, Nashville was forced to defend for its life. Suffocating pressure from New York from the 45’ minute forward pinned Nashville deep within its own half. Another Red Bulls goal was overturned midway through the period while Surridge and Mukhtar were forced to play more defense than offense.
Had it not been for strong shifts put in by Nashville’s entire backline plus Dru Yearwood and goalkeeper Joe Willis, the match could have easily swung in favor of Red Bells.
There is not much else to detail about Saturday’s match — Nashville SC defended with everything it had throughout much of the match, but failed to guide a single attempt on target.
Three Takeaways From the Match
1) Nashville SC desperately needs find a solution to the absences of Shaffelburg, Moore and Godoy. The club was unable to threaten in any capacity on Saturday night, just as it failed to provide any offensive pressure in the run of play last time out vs. New England for 62 minutes without Shaffelburg on the pitch. As has been the case throughout the season, Nashville’s limited depth will be tested over the next five weeks or so, and if Saturday is any indication of how its depth will fair, Nashville’s bench may not have a second-half spark to provide.
2) The shot discrepancy between the two sides read 22-6 in favor of Red Bulls with the home side steering six of its attempts on target. Conversely, Nashville failed to put a single shot on goal. Not only did Nashville fail to score, but it never once threatened at any point during the match.
3) As poorly as Nashville’s offense played, the club earned a point against a top-three club in the East — there is something to be said for that. Its defense showed up in a huge way and thwarted a New York side averaging 1.7 goals per match, providing a meager silver lining to the evening. Walker Zimmerman put in a strong shift with three blocks and five clearances, while Dan Lovitz and Josh Bauer combined for 11 clearances and won 83% of their tackles.
Man of the Match
Dru Yearwood had another solid outing for Nashville SC. In addition to his second-half takeaway and charge up the middle of the pitch which led to a squandered chance from Surridge, Yearwood won eight of his 12 duels, made five recoveries and passed the ball into Ney York’s final third five times.
As Nashville’s offense sputtered, Yearwood was the only man to create a true scoring opportunity for his side.
