Recap: Nashville SC 1 – 1 Philadelphia Union

Nashville SC came from behind to earn a point against the Philadelphia Union in front of a vibrant capacity crowd in GEODIS Park’s christening match.

The XI

Head coach Gary Smith went with his tried-and-true core group in Nashville’s first home match of the year, bringing back Dax McCarty after the captain missed the last match for the birth of his son.

On the pitch

Nashville were dominant to start the match. Dax McCarty, Hany Mukhtar, Alex Muyl and Dan Lovitz all forced Union goalkeeper Andre Blake into stunning saves to deny a goal, with McCarty and Muyl’s efforts tipped onto the woodwork.

It was the Union, however, who opened the scoring. Against the run of play in the second half, Daniel Gazdag played a long diagonal over the top to Mikael Urhe, who took advantage of a miscommunication between McCarty and Walker Zimmerman to open the scoring.

Nashville salvaged a point from the penalty spot. After the ball struck the outstretched arm of Jose Martínez, Randall Leal took over penalty duties from Hany Mukhtar, and made no mistake from the spot.

While it the win Nashville wanted to kick off their home stand, the unbelievable atmosphere at GEODIS Park was rewarded with the attacking play that had been promised. If that continues, three points will happen more often than not.

Author: Ben Wrightis the Director of Soccer Content and a Senior MLS Contributor for Broadway Sports covering Nashville SC and the US National Team. Previously Ben was the editor and a founder of Speedway Soccer, where he has covered Nashville SC and their time in USL before journeying to Major League Soccer since 2018. Raised in Louisville, KY Ben grew up playing before a knee injury ended his competitive career. When he is not talking soccer he is probably producing music, drinking coffee or hanging out with his wife and kids. Mastodon

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