NASHVILLE - St. Louis City made a trek down to Tennessee Saturday to face one of Major League Soccer’s best players and teams, Hany Mukhtar and Nashville SC. While Mukhtar’s impact was felt almost instantly, City reminded their MLS Eastern Conference opponent why they’re sitting atop the West.
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It was a headline-grabbing matchup for Major League Soccer: two of the league’s best teams, two of the league’s MVP candidates, and a local matchup with plenty of traveling St. Louis City fans.
One problem on the MVP candidate front: St. Louis’s first half MVP, Eduard Löwen, was dealing with a quad injury and missed training midweek, and ultimately was left out of the squad traveling south to Nashville.
With their star out, City was forced to shuffle the deck a bit for Saturday’s game. Indiana Vassilev dropped back and played a role similar to Löwen’s, deeper in midfield, with occasional freedom to join the attack when they saw fit.
City, as always, played at their best on the front foot, and doing so almost won the St. Louis side a penalty within the first 10 minutes of the match.
Niko Gioacchini was shoved by St. Louisian and Nashville defender Jack Maher in the Nashville penalty box. Originally deemed not a penalty on the pitch, the VAR (video assistant referee) got involved. After a review, the call on-field was upheld.
Moments later, Nashville SC marched downfield and opened the scoring. As City’s homegrown midfielder Miguel Perez dropped back with the defense to defend a cross in front of Roman Bürki’s goal, he left MLS MVP candidate Hany Mukhtar open in the box.
The cross was headed away by City’s defense, but right to the feet of a grateful Mukhtar, who slotted his shot home from less than 15 feet out. Despite almost having a penalty within ten minutes, City found themselves down early.
“We knew what to expect, and we got exactly that,” said St. Louis City head coach Bradley Carnell. “We knew it was going to be a fight, and a cagey affair.”
Despite the goal, and the early scoreline, it was St. Louis City that looked impressive in the first half, pushing the tempo, and playing in attack, the way they feel most comfortable.
St. Louis City without Löwen were forced to rely on their speed more, and in doing so found success in the first half. The speed of Indiana Vassilev, Rasmus Alm, Tomas Ostrak, and Jared Stroud stretched the Nashville defense, and forced the hosts to run just as much as the visitors.
City was rewarded for their endeavor in the 41st minute, where a cross into the Nashville box was headed back towards their goalkeeper Joe Willis and the onrushing Niko Gioacchini. The two nearly collided, but the ball bounced between them, off Gioacchini’s back, and into the net.
The assistant referee raised their offsides flag for Gioacchini, who was behind the backline. For the second time in the half, VAR was consulted.
The player who headed the ball back towards the Nashville goal was in fact a Nashville defender clad in yellow, which means that Gioacchini wasn’t offside, and with the ball in the net, it was an unlikely City goal, right at the stroke of halftime.
The goal, and leveling the scoreline, seemed to have given Nashville SC some bulletin board material during halftime. For the first 15 minutes of the second half, Nashville yellow shirts flooded into City’s defensive third of the field.
Nashville’s offense started flowing in a way it simply couldn’t in the first half. Passes were connecting, players were making runs, the hosts were pressing and looking the likeliest to score as the second half developed.
So in the 67th minute when Hany Mukhtar ran in behind the City defense with the freedom of Geodis Park between him and Roman Bürki, you kind of assumed he would tuck his shot home for a second goal.
Instead, Mukhtar, selflessly, passed the ball off to Nashville’s Jacob Shaffelburg, who was chopped down by St. Louis defender Kyle Hiebert in the box for a Nashville penalty. It was Hiebert’s second yellow card, so he saw red and City was down to ten.
The reigning MLS MVP in Mukhtar kept his defense alive with his second goal of the evening from the penalty spot. City was down 2-1, down a man, and feeling down and out of the match.
“For quite a while throughout the game, I thought we did okay (in defending Mukhtar),” Carnell said postgame. “And then we’re chasing a goal or (Mukhtar) finds pockets and finds moments.”
If the second goal and the red card didn’t sap St. Louis spirits, Mukhtar’s third goal in the 75th minute to seal his hat-trick and seal the victory for Nashville certainly did.
Mukhtar ran in behind the City defense, and his Nashville SC teammate Dax McCarty fed him a pass at the top of City’s 18-yard box. Mukhtar’s third finish was his most clinical, a hard and low shot beating Roman Bürki to his right side.
"It’s unfortunate that we give away key moments in a game,” said Bradley Carnell. "These key moments lead to big decisions when you're playing against top teams in the league, and players like Mukhtar will punish you."
City defender Tim Parker had a header hit a post late, but that was the last meaningful action Saturday evening.
“One guy scored three goals (for Nashville),” said City captain and goalkeeper Roman Bürki. “And we only scored one. I know about (Mukhtar)’s qualities, of course, everybody knew before the game. Our plan was to take him out of the game tonight, but it didn’t work.”
You cannot say enough about that “one guy” Hany Mukhtar. Easily the best and most prolific player in Major League Soccer, if not the most prolific soccer player in this hemisphere until Lionel Messi joins the league.
Saturday’s hat trick performance was Mukhtar’s fourth in MLS. Only former Atlanta United and current Inter Miami striker Josef Martinez has more in MLS history. If City fans traveling can take one bit of solace from the defeat, it’s seeing one of the best soccer players to have ever graced the league.
On the flip side, it’s a short turnaround for Bradley Carnell and St. Louis City. A quick turnaround is a chance to quickly turn the page from a tough defeat.
“I’m upset for the boys,” Carnell concluded. “I thought they deserved more on a night they were combative and emptied the tank.”
They return home for midweek action on Wednesday, hosting Real Salt Lake at CITY PARK, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
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