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MLS Nashville SC

Nashville Soccer Club Wins Sixth Consecutive Home Match After 2-0 Victory Over D.C. United

July 2, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Nashville SC News Release


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nashville Soccer Club (11W-5L-5D, 38 pts.) secured its sixth consecutive home victory on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 30,109 fans at GEODIS Park. The Boys in Gold fought to a 2-0 win over D.C. United after winger Randall Leal scored his first brace of the season.

Leal opened the scoreboard in the 18th minute after Hany Mukhtar delivered a perfect ball over the top of the D.C. United backline. Leal corralled the pass and was left one-on-one with the D.C. United keeper. The Costa Rican flicked the ball around the keeper and collected his own pass to score the first goal [WATCH HERE].

The second goal from Leal came in a forceful way in the 37th minute as Leal forcefully regained possession outside the box and after a couple of dribbles delivered a rocket in the back of the net to secure the insurance goal [WATCH HERE].

The Castle Is Rocking: Nashville SC tied its club record for home wins in a season, registering its eighth regular season victory at GEODIS Park. The Boys in Gold will have six more opportunities to break the record this season and are now unbeaten in its last eight home matches (6W-0L-2D).

Lovely From Leal: With his brace, Randall Leal tied his career-high for goals scored in a match (also on Oct. 27, 2021 at CIN). Ten of Leal's 17 career MLS goals have come in Music City.

Dominating D.C. United: With the victory, Nashville SC remains unbeaten against D.C. United all-time improving its record to 4W-0L-2D and out-scoring D.C. 12-4.

Off To The Windy City: Nashville SC will hit the road next week to take on Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field on Saturday, July 8. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT and can be seen on MLS Season Pass in the Apple TV app and heard on 104.5 The Zone.

Match Timeline:

NSH 18': Randall Leal receives a ball from Hany Mukhtar near the box and gets past D.C. United's backline and goalkeeper

NSH 37': Randall Leal collects a deflected ball to rocket the ball in to the back of the net

Notes:

Nashville SC:

is 9W-0L-2D when scoring first this season, 39W-4L-16D all-time

has outscored opponents 21-6 (+15 goal-differential) at GEODIS Park this season across all competitions and has not lost a match at The Castle since March 25

has recorded 100 goals at home in MLS regular season play in club history

is 7W-0L-1D when leading at the half this season and 28W-1L-10D all-time when leading at half

is 7W-0L-0D this season when scoring two goals and 12W-0L-8D all-time

has recorded six consecutive wins at home, a club record, and unbeaten in last eight matches at home

Teal Bunbury made his 356th career regular season appearance

Randall Leal

recorded his first goal at GEODIS Park since he scored the first-ever Nashville SC goal at The Castle on May 1, 2022

surpassed his goal total from last season (2) with his brace, bringing him up to three

Dan Lovitz

appeared in his 100th match for Nashville SC

led the team with 48 accurate passes

Lukas MacNaughton led the team with eight clearances

Shaq Moore led the team with 10 duels won and three successful dribbles

Hany Mukhtar ‚

appeared in his 100th match for Nashville SC

has contributed to at least one goal in the last seven matches at GEODIS Park (6 goals, 5 assists)

has contributed to 91 of Nashville SC's 161 goals in club history (56 goals, 35 assists)

Joe Willis

recorded his seventh shutout of the season, 38th with Nashville SC

ended the night first in the league with a save percentage of 80 (minimum seven matches played) ended the night first in the league with a save percentage of 80.3% (minimum seven matches played)

Box Score: ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

Nashville SC (11W-5L-5D, 38 pts.) vs. D.C. United (7W-9L-5D, 26 pts.)

July 1, 2023 - GEODIS Park

Final Score:

NSH: 2

DCU: 0

Scoring Summary:

NSH: Randall Leal (A: Hany Mukhtar) 18'

NSH: Randall Leal (unassisted) 37'

‚ ‚ ‚

Discipline: ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

NSH: Walker Zimmerman (Caution) 20'

NSH: Randall Leal (Caution) 34'

DCU: Christian Benteke (Caution) 38'

NSH: Walker Zimmerman (Ejection, Second Caution) 64'

NSH: Teal Bunbury (Caution) 66'

Lineups:

NSH Starters: Joe Willis; Dan Lovitz, Jack Maher, Shaq Moore, Walker Zimmerman (C); Dax McCarty, Randall Leal (Lukas MacNaughton 67'), Hany Mukhtar (Taylor Washington 90'+2), Teal Bunbury (Ethan Zubak 67'), Alex Muyl, Sean Davis

Substitutes: Laurence Wyke, Josh Bauer, Ján Greguš, Luke Haakenson, Tah Brian Anunga, Elliot Panicco

‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚

DCU Starters: Tyler Miller; Derrick Williams, Brendan Hines-Ike, Pedro Santon, Andy Najar, Donovan Pines (Taxiarchis Fountas 45'); Chris Durkin (Yamil Asad 84'), Lewis O'Brien, Mateusz Kilch; Cristian Dajome (Kristian Fletcher 74'), Christina Benteke (C)

Substitutes: Ruan, Russell Canouse, Erik Hurtado, Steven Birnbaum, Alex Bono, Gaoussou Samake

Match Officials:

Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.

AR1: Adam Garner

AR2: Diego Blas

4TH Official: Elvis Osmanovic

VAR: Kevin Terry Jr

AVAR: Rene Parra

Weather: Clear, 87 degrees

POST-MATCH QUOTES FROM NASHVILLE SOCCER CLUB

Full audio in the links below

HEAD COACH GARY SMITH

(Opening Statement)

"[It was] a very important victory, especially after the week we had last week. [It's] never ever going to

be easy against a side as gifted and as talented as this D.C. [United] group are. I think they've done a

fabulous job this year of adding some very good players to the group. But, the first half was purely

ours. The level of energy and desire, and the drive of the group put us in a very good position, and

even from the moment that Randall [Leal] scored that was offside, there was a feel about that opening

exchange that boded well for the rest of that first period. Wayne [Rooney] made some chances in the

second half that proved to be far more challenging for the group, and I think D.C. [United] started the

second half much better, but what we've been able to do is dig in. When times are not going as well

as we'd like, we've made life difficult. What I must say is, the game obviously shifted massively on the

sending off, and I'm sure somebody would ask me about that in a moment."

(On the last 25 minutes of possession)

"

Honestly, I think it's experience, the positions that you get in. The group have traveled a path now,

together, a large amount of those players. They've experienced adversity before. Not too many

occasions if I remember rightly, we've had players sent off. But, I do think that we've shown far more

composure and professionalism about our performances. As I said, the first half saw us win the game.

The second half saw us manage the game in a way that was necessary, whether it was prior to the

sending off with D.C. [United] getting on top a little bit. I thought we showed some good character and

great structural awareness on putting a blunt edge on their attacks. After the sending off, I just said to

the guys, I think we showed all the character and all the spirit that we've seen maybe in previous years

when we've not had as much attacking chances and success at home, even. But, that roll your sleeves

up and get through the remainder of the game, and some passages of play that were very important

to navigate those final moments."

MIDFIELDER RANDALL LEAL

(On how it feels to score twice in a game at home)

"Yeah I just want to say thank you to God, to my wife, and my parents. I think it was a very difficult

moment this season for me. My wife, my parents always accepted me, behind me supporting me. I

am very proud of myself that I didn't lose my head in circumstances that I had. But, today was a good

night for me, and a good night for the team. What's important is that we win and that we are good

here at home and now we have a good challenge with the next game against Chicago."

(On rotating back into the lineup after injury)

"Yeah, I think after the injury it was difficult to get ready again. It's hard to get back after the injury and

get playing again. You need to get some rhythm and I think these three games before [tonight] gave

me some good confidence and let me get 100%, and today I think I did well but I need to keep

improving and keep working hard."

-end-

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