Sam Surridge scored from the penalty spot early in the first half for his MLS-leading 16th goal to help Nashville SC to a 1-0 victory over D.C. United on Saturday night.
Of Surridge’s 16 goals, 10 have come during a six-match scoring streak, the first such run in club history. That hot streak has helped Nashville (11-4-5, 38 points) extend its unbeaten run to 14 matches in all competitions and 12 in MLS play.
Joe Willis made one save to keep his and Nashville’s sixth clean sheet against a D.C. side that has failed to score in six of its last nine league fixtures.
United (4-10-6, 18 points) lost its third straight and has won only once in its last nine league games. But they did see leading scorer Christian Benteke return to the field for the first time since May 14 after a longer-than-expected recovery from an ankle injury.
Former D.C. homegrown player Andy Najar was at the root of Nashville’s best moments.
In the 16th minute, his early ball down the right landed perfectly in the path of the run of Hany Mukthar, who reached out his leg to the right to control the pass.
As he did, Lucas Bartlett tried to poke the ball away and instead caught Mukhtar with an outstretched leg, prompting referee Ricardo Fierro to point to the spot and issue Bartlett a yellow card.
After a brief pause for a replay review, Surridge stepped up in the 18th minute and hammered an emphatic finish inside the left post past Luis Barraza’s dive.
In the 37th minute, Najar found Surridge on the break with another long pass. This time, Barraza charged off his line and saved the in-form striker from close range.
The hosts were fortunate not to go down to 10 men when D.C. substitute Gabriel Pirani was cautioned for his reaction toward Gaston Brugman after absorbing Brugman’s foul.
Replays appeared to show Pirani had struck at Brugman’s body with a closed fist, but Fierro was not summoned to the replay monitor.
–Field Level Media
