It wasn’t pretty, but Nashville will be more than happy with the result on Saturday night, grinding out a scoreless draw on the road against sixth placed New England Revolution.
Nashville SC head coach was forced to make several changes, missing six players with injury and one more due to a positive Covid-19 test. Midfielder Matt LaGrassa made his first MLS start after signing from Nashville’s USL side. Derrick Jones, Hany Mukhtar and Randall Leal formed a makeshift front three without a single striker healthy.
Without their typical attacking talent, Nashville struggled to create chances throughout the match. The visitors instead looked to clog the midfield and force New England’s attackers wide, with Alistair Johnston in particular doing a solid job to quiet Teal Bunbury.
Joe Willis put in a standout performance in the second half, pulling off a string of incredible saves to keep the visitors level.
Joe says ?♂️#EveryoneN #NEvNSH pic.twitter.com/lVQf1xwjNL
— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) October 4, 2020
Willis ended the night with five saves, earning his sixth shutout of the year and the man of the match honors.
Nashville have a short turnaround, welcoming Minnesota United to Nissan Stadium on Tuesday night. They’ll be hopeful the three days rest will be enough to get a couple more players healthy.
Stats
Shots: New England 17 – 3 Nashville
Shots on goal: New England 5 – 1 Nashville
Expected goals: New England 2.11 – 0.12 Nashville
Goals: New England 0 – 0 Nashville
Possession: New England 65.9% – 34.1% Nashville
Yellow cards: New England 0 – 1 Nashville
Red cards: New England 0 – 0 Nashville
Twitter
They need rest to cover up.