Tai Baribo scored in the 77th minute to cap a second-half rally from two goals down as D.C. United escaped with a 2-2 draw against Nashville SC on Saturday in Washington.
Silvan Hefti also scored for D.C. (5-5-8, 23 points), which extended its run of matches without a loss to five in pursuit of its first postseason berth since 2019.
Sam Surridge and Shakur Mohammed scored goals eight minutes apart in the first half for Nashville (12-2-4, 40 points), which played D.C. to a 2-2 draw for the second time this season.
Brian Schwake made five saves for Nashville, which cashed in its only two shots on goal in the match.
Nashville broke on top in the 32nd minute after D.C. United’s Brandon Servania was called for a hand ball in the box on an attempted cross by Hany Mukhtar.
Surridge fired a right-footed penalty kick into the bottom right corner, out of the reach of D.C. keeper Sean Johnson for his team-high 11th goal this season.
Mukhtar had a hand in Nashville’s second goal as well. On a transition opportunity, he fed forward to Mohammed who launched a right-footed blast from 10 yards out.
D.C. defender Keisuke Kurokawa blocked the attempt but the rebound came back to Mohammed’s feet and he flicked a left-footed shot past Johnson, who was already sprawled on the turf from Mohammed’s first shot.
Mohammed’s dribbler went into the lower-left corner for his third goal this season.
Hefti, a first-year defender for D.C., triggered the comeback with his first career MLS goal. It came after a corner kick as he volleyed a right-footed shot into the top right corner from eight yards out.
Hefti’s attempt came after Schwake batted a header by Louis Munteanu out of the goal area.
Munteanu played a role in the equalizer as well. In a scramble for the ball and surrounded by defenders after he had fallen to the turf, Munteanu flicked a pass wide to Baribo.
His left-footed shot from 10 yards out on the left side of the box was deflected by Schwake but not enough to keep it out of the net as Baribo scored his team-high 11th goal.
After that, D.C. United’s Joao Peglow had the best chance to break the tie, but his blast from the top of the penalty box in the 89th minute caromed off the left post.
–Field Level Media
