MLS Nashville SC

What to Watch for as Nashville SC Completes Road Trip at Chicago Fire FC 

Published on September 24, 2021 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Nashville SC News Release


After a five-goal victorious effort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Wednesday, Nashville SC (11W-3L-11D, 44 pts) rolls into Chicago on Sunday to take on Chicago Fire FC (6W-15L-5D, 23 pts).

Sunday's match will complete a four-match road swing, from which the team holds a 2W-1L-0D record so far. It's the longest stretch of road matches the Boys in Gold will face this season. It's also the third of five matches in 15 days for Nashville before the team breaks for international play in early October. 

Nashville SC enters the weekend in second place in the Eastern Conference after thoroughly beating Inter Miami CF 5-1 in its last fixture. 

Here's everything you need to know about Sunday's match:

Date: Sunday, Sept. 26

Time: Noon CT

Location: Soldier Field (Chicago, Illinois)

TV: MyTV30

Stream: Click Here

English Radio: ESPN 94.9

Spanish Radio: El Jefe 96.7

Watch Party

Bounce Back Mentality - Nashville SC has lost just three times this season, including last Saturday night at Toronto FC. In the matches immediately following those losses, the Boys in Gold have three wins with a total of 13 goals, including five most recently against Inter Miami CF. 

Head Coach Gary Smith praised the way his team responded to adversity faced in Toronto. 

"Goes without saying: a response was needed," Smith said. "We came here knowing this was going to be a tough game having lost in a real heartbreak fashion the last time we were here, and it's never easy to play against this group. To score five goals and win as resoundingly as we have tonight, I think makes a bit of a statement from where we sit for, you know, our intentions to be in the postseason."

M-L-S is Back - For the first time in over a month, Nashville SC's attacking trio of Hany Mukhtar, Randall Leal and CJ Sapong started a match together on Wednesday in Florida. M-L-S picked up right where it left off, combining for three of Nashville SC's five goals on the night. This season, the trio have combined for 27 of Nashville's 44 goals this season and 20 assists. 

Smith said Nashville's five-goal outburst came down to an extra gear of intensity from the entire group, including the M-L-S trio. 

"We can only attack and work against the group that's put in front of us, and the big difference tonight from the last time we came here was the appetite of the players, the willingness to get beyond their backline, and to show more energy," Smith said. "Sometimes, it's not too complicated. There was a nice connection and there was an appetite about our game."

Windy City Work - Nashville SC now faces Chicago Fire FC on the road for the first time in club history. Fire FC are coming off a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the league-leading New England Revolution on Wednesday night.

Earlier this season, Nashville SC defeated the Fire in a 5-1 affair at Nissan Stadium on July 17. Mukhtar scored the fastest hat trick from kickoff in Major League Soccer history, and the first hat trick ever by a Nashville SC player in MLS, scoring in the 10', 13' and 16' minutes.

Sunday's match completes a stretch of four consecutive road matches for the Boys in Gold. Nashville has taken at least a point in all but three of its 11 road matches this season. They'll be facing a Chicago side that has lost six of its last seven matches, four of which were shutout losses. 

Catch all the action on MyTV30 and our website at Noon on Sunday.

Check out the Nashville SC Statistics

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Major League Soccer Stories from September 24, 2021


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