Recap: Nashville SC complete sweep of Chicago Fire with 2-0 win at Soldier Field

Nashville SC keep rolling, earning a hard-fought 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire to complete a regular-season sweep.

After a two-week break, they picked up right where they left off, increasing their unbeaten run to 11 matches. This equals the best-ever stretch in club history, set all the way back in the early parts of the 2018 USL Championship season, Nashville's first year as a professional club.

The XI

With Walker Zimmerman, Jacob Shaffelburg and Xavier Valdez on international duty, head coach BJ Callaghan brought Jeisson Palacios back onto the backline and gave Ahmed Qasem a start on the wing. Josh Bauer also got the nod at right back, giving Andy Najar a breather after playing two World Cup qualifiers for Honduras during the international break.

On the pitch

Nashville started the match slowly. BJ Callaghan said afterwards that they looked very much like a team that hadn't played in 14 days. As he also pointed out, Joe Willis didn't look like a goalkeeper who hadn't played in 14 days. The 36-year-old was spectacular, making seven saves to maintain a vital clean sheet.

At the other end, the game changed when Najar came on at halftime. The Honduran instantly improved Nashville's ability to sustain possession, allowing Gastón Brugman to pick out more effective pockets and combining craftily with Hany Mukhtar and Qasem down the right. He set up both goals, yet another magnificent display from the defender.

Unsurprisingly, it was Mukhtar who put Nashville ahead. The 2022 MLS MVP scored his ninth goal in seven matches against the Fire to put Nashville ahead, volleying in a cross from Najar past goalkeeper Jeffrey Gal.

It appeared that the goal might be disallowed – VAR took a lengthy look to determine if Sam Surridge impacted Gal's line of sight from an offside position – but it ultimately stood. 19 minutes later, Surridge extended the lead, scoring his 12th of the year after a nifty bit of footwork in the box lined up the shot on his weaker left foot.

The big picture

Nashville keep getting better and showing new ways to win. They've boat-raced teams, they've played direct, and they've been able defend with their backs against the wall. In Chicago, they closed out the match with the ball, a layer they've sorely missed in the past.

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Up 2-0 on the road against an in-conference opponent, they didn't sit deep and invite pressure. They smothered the Fire with a brutal press, and when they won the ball back, they strung together long, time-killing sequences of passes to shut things down. It was yet another dimension from BJ Callaghan.

They're into third place in the East. They're on an 11-match unbeaten run. And it still feels like they're just scratching the surface.

Up next

After two weeks off, Nashville will get another lengthy break. Their next match isn't for 11 days, traveling to New England to take on the Revolution on Wednesday, June 25.

Highlights

Stats

Possession: CHI 51% – 49% NSH
Passes completed: CHI 421 – 386 NSH
Shots: CHI 14 – 11 NSH
Shots on goal: CHI 7 – 3 NSH
Penalty kicks: CHI 0 – 0 NSH
Goals: CHI 0 – 2 NSH
Expected goals: CHI 1.45 – 1.17 NSH
Fouls: CHI 7 – 19 NSH
Yellow cards: CHI 2 – 5 NSH
Red cards: CHI 0 – 0 NSH
Announced attendance: 26,942