Recap: Sam Surridge rescues a point in Montréal

Nashville SC followed up their midweek US Open Cup win with a 1-1 draw away to CF Montréal. Sam Surridge's 23rd goal of the year rescued a point for the Boys In Gold in a disappointing yet understandable performance on the road.

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The XI

After Wednesday's US Open Cup win, head coach BJ Callaghan opted for some light rotation. Walker Zimmerman returned to the starting lineup, with Josh Bauer replacing Andy Nájar at right back. Gastón Brugman and Bryan Acosta replaced Eddi Tagseth and Patrick Yazbek in midfield, while Tyler Boyd made his first start of the 2025 season and his first appearance in the XI since July 13, 2024.

On the pitch

Nashville started the match brightly, coming close to taking an early lead via Hany Mukhtar, who got on the end of a ball over the top from Alex Muyl and flashed his shot just wide of the far post.

Against the run of play, Montréal took the lead via Dante Sealy. The Trinidad international scored his second free kick in as many weeks, curling a shot past Joe Willis into the top corner to give the hosts a lead.

Shortly afterwards, Montréal thought they had equalized via leading scorer Prince Owusu. The German poked home a broken set piece from close range, but a video review determined that defender Jalen Neal had interfered with Willis from an offside position.

Nashville struggled to respond to the goal, despite controlling the bulk of possession. For long stretches of the game, they looked tired, understandably so after the week they had. At halftime, Callaghan brought on Andy Nájar and Jacob Shaffelburg, giving the visitors some much-needed attacking punch.

As he has all season, though, Sam Surridge came to the rescue. The striker bagged his 23rd goal of the year in the final 10 minutes, heading home a pinpoint ball from Gastón Brugman to salvage a point. The goal tied Mukhtar's 2022 record for goals in a season, and gave the 'Yotes their club-record 56th goal of the season.

Goals

• 9' | MTL | Dante Sealy
• 81' | NSH | Sam Surridge (Gastón Brugman)

The big picture

While Nashville certainly looked more flat than normal, they were still fairly dominant, outshooting Montréal 20-6 and advancing the ball into good spots. The final pass or shot was off for most of the afternoon, though.

In some ways, it's understandable that Nashville would struggle. After traveling to Austin midweek for the US Open Cup, they arrived back in Nashville at 2:30 am Thursday morning, left for Montréal on Friday afternoon, and played at 1:30 pm Saturday afternoon. That's a tough turnaround for anyone.

The draw leaves Nashville in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. They have a three-point cushion over Chicago Fire in eighth place, who have a game in hand. Conversely, they're just three points behind Charlotte and New York City FC, who have difficult schedules to close out the year, and Inter Miami, who travel to Nashville on Decision Day.

It's anyone's guess where Nashville will end up in the final table on October 18.

Up next

Nashville get a much needed break next week, having a full week to rest and recover after their US Open Cup win. They'll be back in action on October 18, hosting Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on the final day of the 2025 MLS regular season.

Stats

Possession: MTL 35% – 65% NSH
Total Passes: MTL 232 – 490 NSH
Shots: MTL 6 – 20 NSH
Shots on goal: MTL 2 – 5 NSH
Penalty kicks: MTL 0 – 0 NSH
Goals: MTL 1 – 1 NSH
Expected goals:
Fouls: MTL 2 – 8 NSH
Yellow cards: MTL 1 – 3 NSH
Red cards: MTL 0 – 0 NSH