Alex Muyl scored in the fifth minute, Hany Mukhtar ended a personal drought and Nashville SC defeated host Atlanta United 2-0 on Saturday night to halt their eight-match losing streak.
Nashville (7-13-8, 29 points) had not won a league match since June 22 and had been shut out in four straight outings. The club won for the first time under new coach B.J. Callaghan.
Joe Willis made five saves for Nashville for his seventh clean sheet of the season.
Atlanta (8-13-7, 31 points) saw Xande Silva, Derrick Williams and Pedro Miguel Amador leave the match with injuries; Williams and Amador were involved in aerial collisions in the 85th and 86th minutes, respectively.
Brad Guzan saved one shot for the hosts, who failed to score despite holding 55.7 percent of the possession.
Nashville applied immediate pressure to begin the night. Mukhtar fired a cross into the box for Teal Bunbury, whose header on goal in the third minute caromed off the left goalpost.
Soon after, Shaq Moore collected a ball and ran to the back line before crossing it in. Sam Surridge headed it over to Muyl, who spun and one-timed a shot past Guzan. That ended Nashville SC’s goalless run of 436 minutes.
Nashville had the better chances throughout the first half. Bunbury received a cross from Moore and headed it straight at goal, but Guzan made the save in the 31st minute.
In the 39th minute, Nashville appeared to double its lead before a review by VAR overturned the goal.
Muyl and Mukhtar exchanged passes in the wide area before Muyl sent a cross in to Surridge for a goal via header. It looked pure, but the review discovered Mukhtar was a step offside when Muyl had passed it his way.
Atlanta started seeing some more chances in the second half. Recent international signing Alexey Miranchuk penetrated the left side of the box, but Willis stymied his shot attempt in the 56th minute. Ten minutes later, Daniel Rios rang the right post with a shot.
After protecting its lead, Nashville was rewarded with another goal on a counterattack in the 76th minute. Mukhtar made a centering pass to Bunbury, and Bunbury backheeled it to Mukhtar to set up the latter’s left-footed strike.
A former league MVP and Golden Boot award winner, Mukhtar scored his first goal since June 29. What’s more, his past three MLS goals had been from penalty kicks; this marked his first goal in the run of play since April 27.
–Field Level Media
