Hany Mukhtar’s 63rd-minute strike was the deciding goal in Nashville SC’s 2-1 win over the visiting New York Red Bulls on Wednesday.
Seven minutes after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting equalized for New York (5-5-3, 18 points), Mukhtar put Nashville SC (7-4-2, 23 points) ahead for good. A superbly crafted passing play involving over half of Nashville’s lineup set up Mukhtar for a big right-footed conversion in the box.
Patrick Yazbek scored Nashville’s other goal and Sam Surridge had two assists.
Nashville SC won for the first time in eight (1-3-4) all-time matches against the Red Bulls. That previous winless record included a 2-0 road loss to New York on March 1.
Mukhtar (six goals, four assists) leads all Nashville players in goal contributions this season.
Nashville has a 6-1-1 home record, while the Red Bulls are winless (0-4-2) in six road matches.
Four days after a 7-0 thrashing of the Los Angeles Galaxy, New York was limited to one goal on seven shots (two on target) by the solid Nashville defense. Near the end of the second half, Cameron Harper and Wiktor Bogacz each had decent chances at the equalizer that went wide of Nashville’s net.
A quiet first half was broken open by Yazbek in the 34th minute. Surridge and Daniel Lovitz earned assists getting the ball to Yazbek near the middle of the field, and the midfielder did the rest in racing downfield and firing from the edge of the box.
It was Yazbek’s first goal in 18 MLS matches over parts of two seasons with Nashville.
Choupo-Moting answered Yazbek’s breakthrough goal with the New York forward’s team-leading seventh goal of the season. In the 56th minute, Harper got into the box and sent a perfect cross to Choupo-Moting, who buried a well-placed header.
New York defender Omar Valencia picked up a yellow card in his 45 minutes of play. Valencia will miss the Red Bulls’ next match (Saturday against New York City FC) on a suspension for caution accumulation.
–Field Level Media
