Story by
Nashville SC stunned by DC United in regular-season home finale, gives up 2 goals in stoppage time
- Story by
- Nashville SC stunned by DC United in regular-season home finale, gives up 2 goals in stoppage time
Nashville SC's dream scenario was just four minutes from materializing. Then Gabriel Pirani awakened Nashville with a gallon of glacier-cold water.
The D.C. United substitute forward scored twice in stoppage time to shock Nashville 4-3 in its final regular-season game at Geodis Park. In moments, his two goals sent NSC (8-15-9, 33 points) from the brink of a season-saving win to the edge of elimination from MLS playoff contention.
Advertisement
Nashville isn't quite out of the mix in the Eastern Conference, but reaching the playoffs for the fifth time in as many seasons would require a miracle bigger than the one D.C. (9-13-10, 34 points) received. A loss, coupled with wins from two of Toronto FC , the Philadelphia Union and CF Montréal , would have mathematically eliminated Nashville. Only Montréal won Wednesday, keeping Nashville's hopes alive for at least a couple more days.
But that's small solace on a night where Nashville took a 3-1 lead on Alex Muyl 's second goal of the game, only to give it all back. With two games left — Sunday at New York City FC and Oct. 19 at the Chicago Fire — Nashville is four points behind ninth-place Toronto.
"You can focus immediately to the end of the game and how it fell apart," Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan said. "There's not a single person in this organization who believes that that's good enough."
Nashville leaves goals on the table
Nashville came out firing. Muyl found the net off a chipped delivery from Aníbal Godoy in the sixth minute, and after Lucas Bartlett equalized for D.C., Hany Mukhtar roped in a direct free kick just before halftime. Muyl pushed the lead to two in the 62nd minute with Mukhtar on the assist in transition.
Advertisement
But the lead could have been even greater. Mukhtar couldn't convert multiple 1-on-1 situations with D.C. goalkeeper Alex Bono , and Godoy and Muyl both had shots go off the post. Defender Walker Zimmerman headed the ball over the crossbar in the 56th minute, a chance that was worth 0.49 expected goals — the highest figure of any non-scoring play on the night.
"We definitely could have put the nail in the coffin," Zimmerman said. "Gotta have that killer mentality to put it away."
NASHVILLE TO USMNT: Walker Zimmerman relished Olympics experience, now has eye on 2026 World Cup
Nashville can't survive D.C. pressure
Nashville shifted to a 5-4-1 formation late in order to better handle D.C.'s push for a comeback. But Zimmerman didn't think the team did a good enough job getting pressure on services from out wide, despite having prepared for D.C., one of the best aerial teams in MLS, to create chances by winning headers in the penalty box.
Advertisement
"We knew exactly what was going to happen, and we didn't execute," Zimmerman said.
Goalkeeper Joe Willis did well to stop six shots, but got little help from the rest of the team as D.C. took 31 shots in total, 10 of them on goal. Nineteen of those shots came after Muyl's second goal, including a 75th-minute goal by Christian Benteke that cut the lead to 3-2. Callaghan blamed an inability to keep possession, noting a dearth of four- and five-pass sequences in the last half-hour of the game.
"We have to use the ball as another mechanism of defending," Callaghan said. "I thought we were a bit wasteful."
Another blown lead for Nashville
Wednesday's loss marked the 10th time this season where Nashville has blown a lead, and the fourth time it has lost such a game. In contrast, Nashville has had one come-from-behind win and just two games in which it trailed and still earned points.
Advertisement
"For guys that claim to be together and have this tough mentality, it's hard when stuff like that happens," Zimmerman said.
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 stunned by DC United in regular-season home finale
