Gabriel Pirani scored twice in second-half stoppage time and D.C. United rallied from a two-goal deficit to stun host Nashville SC with a 4-3 victory on Wednesday.
After star Christian Benteke’s league-leading 22nd goal on 76 minutes got D.C. United (9-13-10, 37 points) within 3-2, Pirani kept the visitors’ playoff chances alive by scoring through traffic from the center of the box in the fourth minute of added time.
Three minutes later, Pirani got the ball, nearly unmarked in the box, then floated it over the head of Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis for the seemingly improbable winner.
Alex Muyl scored on either side of halftime while Hany Mukhtar had a goal and an assist for Nashville (8-15-9, 33 points), which now sees its playoff hopes on life support.
After falling 1-0 at New England in its previous match, Nashville wasted no time opening the scoring Wednesday. Anibal Godoy flipped the ball into the box, and a well-positioned Muyl fired the ball along the pitch into the D.C. net in the sixth minute.
D.C. leveled the contest before the half-hour mark. Off a corner, the ball found Benteke’s head, then the head of Lucas Bartlett, who floated it into the corner of the Nashville net.
Nashville went back ahead in the 45th minute via a brilliantly curled free kick from Mukhtar, just his second goal in his past 12 league matches.
Surging into the box, Mukhtar found Muyl to rather easily send home the goal that put Nashville up 3-1 in the 62nd minute.
But the visitors weren’t down and out. Off a D.C. free kick, the ball found a wide-open Jacob Murrell, who sent a pinpoint header toward the Nashville goal and onto the foot of a leaping Benteke to convert and get his club within a goal.
–Field Level Media
