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Substitute Shaq Moore scored in the 81st minute and Teal Bunbury added an insurance goal 10 minutes later as Nashville SC ended their lengthy winless rut against visiting, short-handed Toronto FC with a 2-0 victory on Wednesday night.

Moore, who came on at the beginning of the second half, was the recipient of teammate Walker Zimmerman’s header from the near side of the box. Amid goal-mouth traffic, Moore managed to be in the right spot to pounce on the ball and bundle it across the goal line.

Fellow sub Bunbury sealed the match when he put home a perfect cross from Tyler Boyd in the first minute of stoppage time to give Nashville (3-4-5, 14 points) its second victory in three matches. The result ended Nashville’s 0-2-3 rut against the Toronto FC (6-6-1, 19 points), which has dropped two straight after winning three in a row.

Toronto was without goalkeeper Sean Johnson and defender Richie Laryea, plus coach John Herdman, who were all suspended Wednesday as result of the post-match brawl with members of New York City FC from Saturday. TFC were also minus key offensive contributor Federico Bernardeschi after he picked up a red card against NYCFC, but were stout defensively for most of a match where each club posted seven overall shots.

Nashville showed signs early of being aggressive against undermanned Toronto, and the hosts dominated possession in the opening half. However, Nashville managed just one overall shot and none on target as TFC tightened their spacing and prevented any hint of transition.

TFC generated the only true threat of the first half when Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis was forced to save Tyrese Spicer’s 20th-minute header from the middle of the box.

Each club picked up the offensive pace early in the second half. Spicer was again active for Toronto. Meanwhile, Nashville recorded its first shot on target in the 54th minute via Boyd’s left-footed strike that was stopped by backup TFC keeper Luka Gavran.

Roughly 10 minutes later, Nashville star Hany Mukhtar streaked in, only to go high over the bar.

–Field Level Media