Nashville SC rallies against Columbus to extend MLS unbeaten streak
Nashville SC had to rally against the Columbus Crew on Sunday night to extend its unbeaten streak in MLS competition.
After Columbus scored in the first 83 seconds, Nashville stormed back with three goals in the second half to beat the Crew 3-1 and extend its unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2) in front of a capacity crowd at Geodis Park.
Nashville's last loss came on April 15 at New York City (2-1).
It was Nashville's second straight come-from-behind win in MLS competition. Charlotte took a 1-0 lead on Nashville on May 20 before the Boys in Gold rallied for a 2-1 victory.
"As we worked through this game the opportunities started to present themselves a little bit more," Nashville coach Gary Smith said. "The finish in the first half looked a little bit ragged. Nevertheless there was plenty of willingness and eagerness to be creative in that final third. In the end it came through. It looked like we grew another foot or two as the game went on and they shrunk a foot or two and life looked a little more difficult for them."
Fafa Picault kicked in a corner kick off his back foot from Hany Mukhtar, who was credited with the assist, in the 56th minute to get Nashville (8-3-4, 28 points) on the board then 25 minutes later Teal Bunbury scored a header off a corner kick to take a 2-1 lead against the Crew (5-6-3, 18 points).
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After Nashville goalie Joe Willis made two spectacular saves over a four-minute stretch late Mukhtar added a goal in the 96th minute.
Mukhtar now has 52 MLS regular season goals and 34 assists in 94 matches. He has nine goals and six assists this season.
While it took more than half for Nashville's offense to find a rhythm and tempo, the Boys in Gold have outscored their opponents (14-6) in the streak. They have not allowed more than one goal in a single game during the streak.
The two set piece goals were particularly pleasing for Smith.
"More than anything you've got to have guys willing to put their body on the line (in those situations)," Smith said. "Because make no mistake, there are times where you're going to get a physical confrontation, a bang on the head, because you're putting yourselves into harm's way to try and score a goal. If you look at the way Fafu scored, he's right in the mix. He's not the biggest guy in the world, but when he sees the chance to put the ball in the back of the net he's willing to do whatever it takes."
Nashville is unbeaten in its last six matches (4-0-2) at Geodis Park, and has scored multiple goals in four consecutive matches there.
Columbus took the 1-0 lead on a goal by Yaw Yeboah, who won a duel at midfield then scored from 20 yards out. It was his second career goal.
Nashville had several scoring opportunities through the first half but could not connect. Nashville finished with nine shots in the first half and 17 for the game. Columbus had 12 total.
Nashville remained in second place in the Eastern Conference while Columbus lost for the seventh time on the road. It was Nashville's fourth consecutive win over Columbus since 2020.
Nashville's Walker Zimmerman returned from a lower body injury after being sidelined since April. He came off the bench in the 85th minute and set up a shot for Mukhtar which barely missed to the right of the goal.
Nashville doesn't play at home again until June 17 against St. Louis. The club goes on the road Saturday to play Dallas and June 10 to play Toronto.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC rallies against Columbus to extend MLS unbeaten streak
