Hello, and welcome to another Film Friday. Nashville came from behind to beat Columbus 3-1 at home, and here’s how the match unfolded.
The match started with an absolute banger from Yeboah. This obviously is a really good finish, but let’s see what Nashville could have done better. Going back, Aníbal Godoy is a bit too slow to react to the ball and loses the battle to Darlington Nagbe.
Once the ball progresses forward, Dax McCarty shifts from the middle to the side to cover for Godoy’s absence. In order to not leave his defender one-on-one with Zelerayán, Muyl shifts to cover him. Not only did Godoy miss the battle with Nagbe, he was also a bit too slow in recovering.
All of those reasons allowed for enough space for Yeboah to take the shot. And as I already mentioned, the quality of the finish makes it virtually impossible for Joe Willis (or most ‘keepers) to save it.
After the goal, Nashville wanted to strike back, and with that, the match opened completely. There was a lot of back-and-forth between both teams. The pace, intensity and physicality of the match increased. Throughout the first half, Nashville had multiple chances, but it seemed like they were on the edge a bit and not able to focus on the final touch.
Set pieces were an important part of Nashville’s plan, and they came close a few times. Just over 10 minutes into the second half, one of those set pieces paid off for Nashville. At first, I wasn’t sure if Picault meant for the back heel, but the more I watch the replay, the more I find intention in his movement.
The goal was obviously important for the result, but its consequences were a lot deeper than just the tying goal. After the goal, Nashville calmed down and controlled the game at their own pace. This allowed for their confidence to rise and for Columbus to grow frustrated. Eventually, it resulted in another set piece goal for Nashville.
Before we get to the cherry on top, Joe Willis deserves an enormous amount of praise for what he did late in the match. After a long period where his goal was not threatened, Columbus were firing on all cylinders late in the game. The Nashville defending unit were caught sleeping multiple times, which allowed for dangerous chances that Willis stopped almost single handedly.
Lastly, the MVP just did MVP things to finally put the game to bed. No breakdown is needed here.
Thank you for watching, and make sure to come back next week.
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