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Nashville SC loses at Charlotte FC, giving up two late goals after Walker Zimmerman injury
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- Nashville SC loses at Charlotte FC, giving up two late goals after Walker Zimmerman injury
For 70 minutes Saturday, Nashville SC looked well on its way toward conquering one of the toughest road environments in MLS.
That was until its captain, Walker Zimmerman , was knocked from the game after taking a Kerwin Vargas kick directly to the face. And without the United States national team defender , things went downhill in a hurry.
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Charlotte FC scored a pair of goals after the 85th minute to beat Nashville (3-3-1, 10 points), rallying for a 2-1 win at Bank of America Stadium. Wilfried Zaha and Idan Toklomati found the net as Charlotte (4-2-1, 13 points) rallied to extend its winning streak at home to seven games, dating back to last August.
It's the second straight defeat for Nashville, which lost 2-1 to FC Cincinnati at Geodis Park last Saturday to snap a three-game winning streak. Nashville hosts Real Salt Lake on April 12.
Walker Zimmerman injured, taken to hospital
Charlotte's rally was made possible in large part by Zimmerman's absence. In the 71st minute, he dove headfirst to clear a cross headed towards Vargas, who leapt for a volley. Vargas' leg collided with Zimmerman's head, knocking him to the turf.
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"I've played with Walker long enough to see him put his head in some crazy situations," said defender Dan Lovitz . "Quite frankly, it's what makes him great and such a valuable part of our team. ... It's tough. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't something that was tough to watch and maybe impacted us a little bit."
Zimmerman left the field on a stretcher after a six-minute delay, with Jeisson Palacios replacing him. Zimmerman was taken to a local hospital, where he was responsive and in stable condition before being released Saturday evening.
"Everything is being handled by the medical professionals," Callaghan said. "We'll let that process take place. He's under good care."
Tale of two halves
Nashville controlled the first half, stringing together impressive sequences with the ball. It took a 1-0 lead on Hany Mukhtar 's goal in the 32th minute, which capped a full-field transition move between Ahmed Qasem , Gaston Brugman, Sam Surridge and Lovitz, who chipped the ball toward Mukhtar at the back post.
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"We were able to find space between the lines," Callaghan said. "We were able to establish possession and the opportunities where we were really able to go down the right side and get it across the field. We were able to create some dangerous moments."
Nashville had 55% possession in the first half and seven shots (five on target) to Charlotte's zero. After halftime, Charlotte had the ball 62% of the time with four shots on goal, while NSC had just two. Lovitz said Nashville expected Charlotte to press more in the second half.
"I don't think we did anything differently," Callaghan said. "They extended their pressure further up the field, made it a bit more difficult to find the spaces and passing lanes inside the middle of the field."
MORE: Nashville SC to host U.S. Open Cup round of 32 match at Geodis Park on May 6
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Nashville allows another late winner
Against Cincinnati, Nashville allowed a game-winning penalty in stoppage time. Against Charlotte, it gave up a game-tying one, as Andy Najar fouled Zaha in the box and Zaha converted himself.
Five minutes later, Charlotte took the lead as Joe Willis was caught out of net on a long pass by Pep Biel . Toklomati won the race to the ball and scored past the last-ditch efforts of multiple Nashville defenders.
"I don't think (the late goals are) reflective of a major mindset that we're not getting right or anything," Lovitz said. "I don't think there's a whole lot other than analyzing each instance and knowing what we could have done better."
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Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: MLS: Nashville SC loses 2-1 to Charlotte FC after two late goals
