Nashville SC held on for a point on the road in Philadelphia on Saturday night, earning a 0-0 draw against the Union with a heavily-rotated lineup. The draw was their 10th clean sheet in 17 matches in all competitions this season.
The vibe check (TL;DR)
- What happened: Head coach BJ Callaghan rotated his lineup heavily, making seven changes to the side that fell 1-0 to Tigres on Tuesday night. With Nashville needing a win in Monterrey on Tuesday to advance to the Concacaf Champions Cup final, key players like Hany Mukhtar, Cristian Espinoza, and Andy Nájar started the match on the bench.
- What we learned: Nashville continue to grind out results at an impressive pace, no matter who's on the field. The 'Yotes extend their lead in the East to four points, with just one loss from their first 10 matches and a stellar 2.3 points per game.
- Big picture: We've talked about this before, but Nashville are competing simultaneously in Concacaf and MLS at a level we've rarely seen. This team is in special form.
Ben Wright
Key moments
- 11' | Jovan Lukić misses a glorious chance to open the scoring, with the ball bouncing through Nashville's defenders before the Serbian smashes over from a prime scoring position.
- 50' | The Union nearly take the lead after a rare misread ball from Maxwell Woledzi allows Milan Iloski in behind, but the attacker scuffs his shot wide.
- 53' | Woobens Pacius gets on the end of a perfect set piece delivery from Ahmed Qasem and has an open header nearly on the goal line, but somehow manages to hit the post.
- 54' | Indiana Vassilev nearly finds a goal for the Union to cap off a chaoitic three minutes, smashing the post from distance. His shot rebounds off the back of a diving Brian Schwake, but somehow stays out of the goal.
- 67' | Substitutes Hany Mukhtar and Cristian Espinoza nearly combine for an instant impact, playing through pressure before Espinoza's cross is just out of reach of Warren Madrigal.
- 72' | Another woodwork hit, this time from substitute Augustin Anello after a mazy run from Woledzi ends up with a turnover in a really poor spot.
- 74' | Andre Blake pulls off an incredible save to deny Qasem from close range, after Espinoza puts the ball on a platter.
Standout performers
- We're running out of superlatives for Brian Schwake. The young 'keeper made four saves to keep the Union off the scoresheet, and has kept 10 clean sheets from his first 17 matches this year.
- Ahmed Qasem's confidence is growing with every passing appearance, and he was Nashville's most dangerous player on the evening. The chemistry with some of his fellow attackers was understandably missing – they've rarely started games together – but his ability to beat players on the dribble opened up space consistently for Nashville.
- Cristian Espinoza was excellent off the bench, combining quickly with fellow substitutes Hany Mukhtar and Andy Nájar to nearly create a winner late in the match.
Lineup notes
Unsurprisingly, head coach BJ Callaghan opted for rotation ahead of Tuesday's crucial away match against Tigres in the Concacaf Champions Cup Semifinals. Sam Surridge and Eddi Tagseth missed the match entirely due to injury, with Shak Mohammed making his first start for the club.
What it means
Nashville extend their lead on top of the Eastern Conference, with four points on New England and a game in hand on many teams around them.
Up next
The 'Yotes will travel to Monterrey, Mexico, on Monday, looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Semifinal against Tigres UANL.
Stats
Possession: PHI 46% – 54% NSH
Shots: PHI 16 – 8 NSH
Shots on goal: PHI 4 – 1 NSH
Penalty kicks: PHI 0 – 0 NSH
Goals: PHI 0 – 0 NSH
Expected goals: PHI 1.64 – 0.49 NSH
Total Passes: PHI 289 – 369 NSH
Fouls: PHI 14 – 11 NSH
Yellow cards: PHI 1 – 1 NSH
Red cards: PHI 0 – 0 NSH
Announced attendance: 17,430
