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Nashville SC ties Columbus Crew at home as Hany Mukhtar ends MLS goal drought
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- Nashville SC ties Columbus Crew at home as Hany Mukhtar ends MLS goal drought
For the first time this season, Hany Mukhtar found the net at Geodis Park.
Even though Mukhtar, the 2022 MLS MVP, hadn't scored in his past eight home games, his game-tying goal against the Columbus Crew on Saturday was a sight Nashville SC fans have become happily accustomed to. Nashville's go-ahead goal was not, in both source and style.
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In the span of six minutes late in the first half, Mukhtar scored his 69th goal for Nashville, and Anibal Godoy scored just his fourth. That's all the time it took for Nashville to flip the match on its head. Though the Crew fought back in the second half for a 2-2 draw, Nashville should find comfort in taking a point off the defending MLS Cup champions a week after suffering its worst loss in franchise history .
"Our response, after the difficulties last week, was paramount," Nashville coach Gary Smith said. "I thought there were some really good stages in the game. I don't think we started particularly well, maybe a little bit of fallout from last week, but we got stronger."
Nashville's next game is April 6 at home against the Philadelphia Union.
Hany Mukhtar ends MLS goal drought
Crew midfielder Sean Zawadzki put Nashville (1-1-4, seven points) in an early hole with an uncontested header off a corner kick before Mukhtar drove home a cross from Jacob Shaffelburg in the 48th minute.
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Shaffelburg, back from a successful international stint with Canada , which included a goal in a win over Trinidad and Tobago, froze Crew fullback Mohamed Farsi with a stepover before launching a left-footed cross. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte flailed at the ball, which bounced directly to Mukhtar's right foot.
The goal is Mukhtar's first in MLS play this season and first since he scored in the season opener, against Moca FC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on March 22. His most recent league goal came on Sept. 20, 2023, in a 3-0 win over Sporting Kansas City .
Shaffelburg, meanwhile, had two assists for the game, putting him at six goal contributions (three goals, three assists) in nine appearances. He had 10 goal contributions in all of 2023.
Anibal Godoy scores on bicycle kick
The final kick of first-half stoppage time was maybe the most unexpected of Nashville's young season.
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The sequence started out much like the one that preceded it, with Shaffelburg isolated on Farsi on the left edge of the penalty box. Godoy was ready for Shaffelburg's cross, leaping into the air for an overhead finish with his left foot. The bicycle kick was the first goal for the Panama nian midfielder in 26 games, dating to last season's Leagues Cup win over FC Cincinnati .
Mar 30, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville SC midfielder Anibal Godoy (20) scores on a backwards kick during the second half against Columbus Crew at Geodis Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Godoy, who captains Panama's national team, said he wanted to honor countryman Luis Tejada, who died in January after suffering an apparent heart attack while playing in a recreational league. Tejada, the all-time leading scorer for Los Canaleros, scored one of his signature goals with a bicycle kick against Mexico in 2005. Godoy noted that Thursday would have been Tejada's 42nd birthday.
"I wanted to celebrate like how he celebrated," Godoy said. "But I don't score too many goals. That feeling is incredible . . . It's really sad for me, because we lost one of the best players in Panama, but I think I scored a really good goal for him."
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Another blown second-half lead
Elliot Panicco , starting at goalkeeper in place of Joe Willis , who was serving a red-card suspension, is now 2-for-2 in denying opponents' penalty attempts this season. While Diego Rossi 's 52nd-minute penalty kick hit the post, Panicco dove in the right direction and seemingly would have stopped the shot regardless.
But Panicco hardly had a chance to stop Marino Hinestroza 's looping header in the 78th minute. Yaw Yeboah crossed the ball from close range and Hinestroza jumped over Taylor Washington to tie the game.
Godoy in particular was frustrated. He had a chance to make the score 3-1 in the 73rd minute but missed an empty net on a counterattack.
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"Columbus, for me, is the best team playing with the ball in the league," Godoy said. "In the first half, we did really well with the press. We recovered so many balls in their half, but we don't finish well . . . I missed that goal, and I think if I score that one, the game's over. But this is football."
This season, Nashville has given up three 2-1 leads late in the second half. It allowed a stoppage-time header to Luis Suarez against Inter Miami in the CCC on March 7, and let in an 82nd-minute goal against the LA Galaxy three days later.
"There are many, many things I could look at and say we should be able to see that game out," Smith said. "Whether that's due to some uncertainty on our end of the field, certainly some individual play that culminated in the cross for the goal. We've seen in the past that this group is more than capable of seeing games out."
MORE: How does Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar deal with fasting during Ramadan? His answer is simple
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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: Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar ends scoring drought in draw with Columbus
