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Nashville SC can't hold onto 2-goal lead in draw with LA Galaxy with Inter Miami, Messi next
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- Nashville SC can't hold onto 2-goal lead in draw with LA Galaxy with Inter Miami, Messi next
Nashville SC surely wasn't overlooking Sunday's game against the LA Galaxy , but it was clear where the team's overarching priority lay.
Just three days after a 2-2 tie against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in the CONCACAF Champions Cup round of 16 first leg and with the second leg looming, Nashville used a starting lineup almost fully made up of backups for its sixth game in 18 days.
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The twist: those lesser-used players showed that Nashville isn't facing an either-or proposition with its MLS season and its first-ever continental tournament.
It's also why Sunday's end result at GEODIS Park — a 2-2 draw — is more disappointing for Nashville than it might have foreseen at kickoff.
After a competitive first 45 minutes, Teal Bunbury and Dru Yearwood scored goals within minutes of each other in the second half. Nashville (0-0-3, 3 points) extended its unbeaten stretch to six games and showed it has enough depth to rely on as it juggles two competitions to open the season, but late goals by Riqui Puig and Dejan Joveljic, and the subsequent two points they cost Nashville, will sting.
"Maybe a lack of experience with those players being on the field together contributed to the fact that we didn't see the game out," said Nashville coach Gary Smith.
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Gary Smith makes big changes to starting lineup
With the second leg against Inter Miami just three days away, Smith opted to begin the game with only one player who started three days earlier, midfielder Alex Muyl .
In goal, Elliot Panicco gave Joe Willis the day off. Taylor Washington , Jack Maher , Brent Kallman and Josh Bauer comprised the defense with Muyl dropping back to form a back five when the Galaxy had possession. Amar Sejdic , Brian Anunga and Yearwood started in midfield with Bunbury and McKinze Gaines up top.
Shaq Moore subbed in for Muyl at halftime, with Hany Mukhtar and Tyler Boyd coming on 25 minutes later. Sam Surridge , who missed four straight games with a shoulder injury, entered late in the second half. Jacob Shaffelburg came on after Joveljic's game-tying goal.
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"I'm looking at four or five performances that have put themselves very firmly in my mind as we move forward, and very much reinforced competition in the group and some of the choices and options I have," Smith said.
First half has no goals but plenty of action
Nashville's makeshift starting 11 showed a surprising amount of life and clever passing. Muyl was all over the field, combining his normal industrious play with crafty passing from the right-hand side. Gaines, meanwhile, flew down the right flank to create chances.
Yet the Galaxy went into halftime having had the best chance to go ahead when Maher tripped Joveljic in the box. Joveljic took his own penalty but Panicco got his right hand on the ball to deny LA the lead.
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Yearwood received a yellow card for a sliding challenge on Puig late in the first half. Nashville fans, judging Puig to have sold the foul, loudly booed the Galaxy playmaker every time he touched the ball the rest of the game.
MORE: Nashville SC and Hany Mukhtar agree on contract extension through 2026 season
Dru Yearwood scores first goal with Nashville, sets up another
Yearwood missed the net by about a foot on a shot to end the first half, but the miss was less an indicator of bad luck and more an exemplification of the midfielder's best all-around game with Nashville.
The erstwhile New York Red Bull drew the foul on Bunbury's penalty kick, and minutes later got on the scoresheet himself. Gaines picked up a loose ball and slotted a short pass left to Yearwood, who made no mistake with his finish.
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"I thought Dru's second half was probably his best 45 minutes for the club," Smith said.
Nashville loses second straight two-goal lead
Smith didn't want to simply hang on. The substitutions he made in the final 30 minutes — attackers Mukhtar, Boyd, Surridge and Shaffelburg — were made with the intent of scoring a third goal.
Mukhtar entered the game with the score 2-1 and put the ball in the back of the net on his first touch, only to be flagged offside. Then Joveljic tied the score in the 82nd minute after being left unmarked in the middle of the box.
"They were throwing bodies forward, and we were doing our best to force them wide and defend crosses," Panicco said. "... There were a few moments where they were able to penetrate us directly through the middle, and that's what hurt us the most."
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Nashville coughed up a 2-0 lead against Inter Miami, allowing a Messi goal in the 52nd minute and a Luis Suarez header in stoppage time.
"We've been in a position to win them," Smith said. "I think that's a far more encouraging spot to be than when you're constantly chasing games."
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 draws LA Galaxy with Inter Miami, Messi next
