Nashville SC fought back from behind twice against the New England Revolution, earning their first-ever win at Gillette Stadium thanks to a brace from Sam Surridge. The win extends their unbeaten run to 12 matches in all competitions, the best stretch in club history, both in the MLS and USL eras.
The XI
17-year-old Chris Applewhite was a surprise inclusion in the lineup, paired at the back with Jeisson Palacios, while Jack Maher was relegated to the bench. Jonny Pérez also came into the lineup in place of Ahmed Qasem.
Defender Julian Gaines made his return to the squad after missing the last 15 matches with injury. The 22-year-old came off the bench in a mid-March match against CF Montréal, but has otherwise spent the full year injured.
Nashville SC Starting XI vs New England Revolution Willis; Lovitz, Applewhite, Palacios, Najar; Tagseth, Yazbek; Muyl, Pérez; Surridge, Mukhtar © BENCH: Schwake, Maher, Acosta, Brugman, Bunbury, Corcoran, Bauer, Gaines, Qasem
— SixOneFive Soccer (@sixonefivesoccer.com) 2025-06-25T22:33:56.745Z
On the pitch
Nashville found themselves in a hole early. 15 minutes into the match, a routine free kick from Carles Gil caugh Palacios and Applewhite completely flat-footed, allowing Tomás Chancalay to split the center backs and finish easily past Joe Willis.
Aside from the goal, though, Nashville dominated the first half. Jonny Pérez, in particular, was stellar. The winger, on loan from the LA Galaxy, was a thorn in the Revs' side throughout the match. After rattling the post with a curled shot that left goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič frozen, Pérez picked out Sam Surridge with a perfect cross, and the striker made no mistake for his 14th goal of the year.
Sam Surridge can't stop scoring 🤩
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 26, 2025
The Englishman's 13th goal of the season gives @NashvilleSC the equalizer at the end of the first half pic.twitter.com/koC2vDTckb
Like Nashville have done so many times, the Revs came out of halftime stronger. A foul from Eddi Tagseth (which earned him a yellow card, keeping him out of Saturday's match in DC) handed Gil a free kick in a dangerous area, and the 2021 MLS MVP served the ball up for Brayan Ceballos to smash home.
Barely a minute later, Nashville roared back. Dan Lovitz flicked a corner from Mukhtar to the back post and into the net. A late touch from Surridge nearly claimed the goal for the striker, but the ball had already crossed the line. Nashville completed the comeback just seven minutes later. Mukhtar was hacked down in the penalty, and Surridge stepped up to plaster the spot kick into the top corner, taking the lead in the Golden Boot race with 14 goals.
The big picture
This is the type of road win good teams get. On the road against the best defensive side in MLS, Nashville showed incredible grit to fight back after going behind twice, equalizing less than two minutes after the Revolution took the lead in the second half.
Fresh off of an MLS All-Star snub, Sam Surridge continued his spectacular season. The former Nottingham Forest striker bagged a brace to move into sole possession of the Golden Boot lead, passing Philadelphia's Tai Baribo at the top.
Jeff Remlinger
This isn't a mirage. Nashville SC are a legitimate contender.
Up next
Nashville will stay on the road this weekend, playing against DC United on Saturday night. They'll head to the nation's capital and train there before attempting to get a better result than the 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture.
Stats
Possession: NE 50% – 50% NSH
Passes completed: NE 351 – 340 NSH
Shots: NE 9 – 15 NSH
Shots on goal: NE 4 – 6 NSH
Penalty kicks: NE 0 – 1 NSH
Goals: NE 2 – 3 NSH
Expected goals: NE 1.59 – 2.83 NSH
Fouls: NE 10 – 20 NSH
Yellow cards: NE 2 – 2 NSH
Red cards: NE 0 – 0 NSH
Announced attendance: 16,354
