Nashville SC broke open a scoreless match with three goals in 11 minutes, cruising to a 3-0 win over visiting CF Montreal on Saturday evening.
Alex Muyl, Josh Bauer and Jonathan Perez all scored in the second half for Nashville (3-1-1, 10 points), winners of three straight matches. Its 10 points from its first five matches is the best start in club history.
Montreal (0-4-1, 1 point), held off the scoresheet for a fourth straight match, remain winless on the season.
Muyl’s goal came in the 56th minute as Sam Surridge took a well-timed touch on a ball chipped into his path. It found Muyl, who had plenty of time and space to race toward the net and fire it home to open the scoring.
That put the momentum squarely in Nashville’s favor, and it responded by doubling its lead in the 62nd minute. After the head of Walker Zimmerman initially met Hany Mukhtar’s corner kick, Bauer found the net with a header of his own to make it 2-0.
Perez made it 3-0 in the 67th minute, his low-and-driven effort deflecting off the fingertips of a diving Jonathan Sirois.
Montreal, which entered the night without a goal since its season opener against Atlanta United on Feb. 22, nearly ended its lengthy goalless streak in the 9th minute.
After Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis took a back pass from his teammate inside his own box, he had it taken away after intense pressure from Montreal’s Prince Owusu. Owusu then fired on an open net before Jack Maher cleared it away at the last second.
Willis ultimately ended the night with three saves en route to his third clean sheet of the season and 70th of his career.
Mukhtar recorded a pair of assists for Nashville, who remained unbeaten at home (2-0-1). Zimmerman, Surridge, Gaston Brugman and Daniel Lovitz were credited with an assist each.
–Field Level Media
