As the MLS Cup playoffs draw closer and closer, 5th visited 7th in the MLS Eastern Conference as Nashville SC hosted New England Revolution at Geodis Park.
With two weeks to go in the Major League Soccer regular season and with teams that have already clinched a playoff berth having one eye on the MLS Cup, Revolution's interim head coach Clint Peay handed an MLS debut to goalkeeper Jacob Jackson.
Even though both teams have clinched a playoff spot, Nashville and New England come into this game in poor form as Nashville have just one win in the last nine games in all competitions, while New England has one win in the last seven matches in all competitions.
Story of the game:
Carles Gil went close for Revolution, inside the opening two minutes but his strike from the edge of the box just fizzed past the post.
Nashville will feel very hard done by early doors, as Hany Mukhtar tangled with Mark Kaye in the penalty area and from TV replay it looked as though Kaye pushed Mukhtar in the box but the referee said no on the field and VAR also denied Nashville a spot kick opportunity.
Nashville thought they had broken the deadlock in the 12th minute as Jacob Shaffelburg's cross was emphatically finished by Sam Surridge but the Englishman was in a clear offside position. But Nashville had the Revolution on the back foot as the boys in gold dominated the opening 15th minutes.
Nashville did finally take the lead in the 18th minute as Randall Leal's cross from the right wing found Surridge but his header crashed off the bar, only for the ball to rebound to Dax McCarty whose thunderous volley cannoned into the goal via the underside of the crossbar it score his first goal of the MLS season.
Shaffelburg was causing the Revolution all sorts of problems down the left wing, and his composed pinpoint cross found Surridge between both Revolution centre-backs Omar Gonzalez and Dave Romney, and his thumping header in the six-yard box gave Nashville's designated player who was brought in from Premier League Nottingham Forrest a first MLS goal on the half-hour mark.
New England were at sixes and sevens at the back as Mukhtar was given a free run at the Revolution defence as the back four was backing off and his strike from outside the back was brilliantly kept out from debutant Jackson.
Revolution had a chance in first-half stoppage time as Kaye's cross was cleared by Surridge whose clearance found Mukhtar, who was in acres of space then a fantastic counterattack move from Nashville saw them in a 5v3 situation as Mukhtar had an array of options in front of him. He found Surridge whose clearance in his six-yard box started this counter and Surridge's first-time finish slid past a hapless Jackson into the bottom right corner of the goal to cap off a commanding first-half display from Nashville going into half-time.
Into the second half:
Peay rang the changes at half-time, as he made three substitutions and went to a more reliable back four formation instead of a back three with wing-backs as that didn't work in the first half.
It worked as the opening minutes of the first half, the Revolution looked more of a compact unit and it paid off four minutes in as Gustavo Bou's cross was volleyed home by Tomas Chancalay to make it 3-1 to Nashville.
Surridge was looking to continue his form in the first half and went close to bagging a hat-trick but his shot curled around the post.
The changes that New England made did seem to have stemmed the bleeding as they weren't looking as open and exposed at the back as they did in the first half, Nashville was struggling to carve open a clear-cut chance to score a fourth goal.
As time went on in the second half, and as New England started to frustrate Nashville, you could tell that if the Revolution had gone with this formation at the start of the game it would have been an entirely different outcome as Mukhtar could only conjure up a couple of half chances.
The game came alive with 20 minutes to play at Geodis Park as Carles Gil had a deflected shot from outside the 18-yard box and what should have been a routine save for Nashville keeper Joe Willis, but Willis couldn't gather and spilt the ball and Chancalay was the quickest to pounce on the rebounded loose ball to stick it into the net for his second goal of the game.
With 15 minutes to go Nashville tried to get that two-goal cushion and a little bit of breathing space but Surridge's shot was superbly saved by Jackson.
Ryan Spaulding had a great chance to bag an equaliser for the Revolution with 10 minutes left to go but Willis made up for his earlier mistake with a good save. Moments later Mukhtar was found by a brilliant cross by Leal but couldn't make a decent connection but it was a magnificent chance for Nashville.
Nashville saw the game out with ease and will now go into the final game of the regular season as New York Red Bulls come to town meanwhile, New England Revolution will head home and host the Philadelphia Union at Gillette Stadium.
Player of the game: Sam Surridge
Surridge played incredibly well, scoring his first and second goals in MLS since moving from the Premier League. His presence looked threatening and you can see why Nashville paid alot of money for him. He took both his goals very well the second goal especially.
