Tag: Nashville SC

Nashville SC star Hany Mukhtar named 2022 MLS MVP

The forward won the MLS Golden Boot as well, scoring 23 goals in 2022

Nashville SC star Hany Mukhtar has been named the 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP.

The 27-year-old took home the award after an incredible campaign in which he tallied 23 goals and 11 assists, winning the league’s Golden Boot award as well.

Mukhtar is the first German-born player and first Nashville SC player to be named MLS MVP.

If judging by the “valuable” element of MVP, Mukhtar had an incredibly strong case: he scored 44.2 percent of Nashville’s goals (23 of 52) in 2022, the highest percentage in MLS by one player.

The German also turned it on down the stretch, scoring 21 goals in Nashville’s final 22 games to help the club finish fifth in the Western Conference and reach the playoffs.

Mukhtar beat out fellow finalists Cristian “Chicho” Arango (LAFC), Andre Blake (Philadelphia), Sebastián Driussi (Austin FC), and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández (LA Galaxy).

Mukhtar clinched the award easily, earning 48% of the total vote. Driussi finished in second with 17% while Blake was third with 8%.

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LA Galaxy solve Nashville SC puzzle, advance to face LAFC in MLS playoffs

Goals called back couldn’t stop the Galaxy from a confident win

Despite finding themselves in a game that suited Nashville SC, the LA Galaxy have their first playoff win in three years.

A Galaxy side that has often struggled to cope when things get tough were kept to just seven shot attempts at home by Nashville, but showed real resolve to get a 1-0 playoff victory. The Western Conference’s fourth seed, managing a tactical battle with possession and patience, advanced thanks to just the second professional goal of defender Julián Araujo’s career.

Referee Armando Villarreal was a major factor, as he had to chalk off goals for both sides. First, Randall Leal ripped an eight-yard shot past Jonathan Bond in the 37th minute after Teal Bunbury beat Séga Coulibaly to a header. Villarreal, however, signaled for a foul on Bunbury, who seemed mystified by the decision.

Early in the second half, it was the Galaxy protesting a call. Riqui Puig lead a clinically-run counter, feinting to freeze Walker Zimmerman before slipping Chicharito in for an angled finish over Joe Willis. Chicharito danced in celebration, but VAR spotted some clear contact before the break forward between Julián Araujo and Hany Mukhtar.

After a three-minute check, Villarreal saw the angle he needed, calling the goal back and keeping the game scoreless.

The Galaxy responded with complaints, but also with added energy, and Villarreal had no issues with the next time they put a ball past Willis. Moments after LA had hit the woodwork, Samuel Grandsir and Douglas Costa produced a clever exchange on the right, with Costa crossing for Araujo — making a clever long run from the right flank to the back post — to nod home just his second professional goal.

Puig slashed through the Nashville midfield again only to be denied a highlight-reel goal by Willis, but from there the teams swapped their stereotypical roles: Greg Vanney brought in Derrick Williams to go to a 5-4-1 formation, while Nashville began leaving plenty of numbers forward in hopes of an equalizer.

The Galaxy had to sweat it out in the final moments, with Jacob Shaffelburg firing just wide and Zimmerman nodding the final touch of the game to Mukhtar, only for the ball to bounce just barely out of the German MVP candidate’s reach.

A win for the Galaxy sets up a titanic edition of El Tráfico in the Western Conference semifinal on Thursday, October 20, as they’ll head across the City of Angels to take on LAFC. While the Galaxy have the historical edge in their city derby, their one and only playoff meeting saw LAFC win a 5-3 thriller back in 2019.

Watch the goal that sent the Galaxy through

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The MLS playoffs begin with three days of potential upsets and chaos

Thoughts and predictions from every opening-round playoff match

After the obligatory long, strange trip, the MLS playoffs are here.

The first round will feature six one-off games, with the higher seeds all hosting. While LAFC and the Philadelphia Union kick their feet up and watch, the remaining playoff sides will try to navigate a first round that is typically volatile. If your playoff predictions are looking pretty chalky, you’re probably off base.

Pro Soccer Wire is ready for the kind of drama MLS virtually always manages to conjure up at this time of the year, and we’re diving into each and every first round match-up with analysis, broadcast information, and predictions.

MLS playoff brackets are set after Decision Day drama

Thoughts on every playoff pairing after Decision Day’s drama

It’s officially playoff time in MLS.

Sunday afternoon saw some high tension in the Eastern Conference that ended with Orlando City coming back to secure the final playoff spot over the Columbus Crew. For the Crew, a season of lost leads ended with Facundo Torres netting an 84th minute penalty kick, giving the 2022 US Open Cup champions a win they had to have to get into the playoff spot.

Fans then watched Minnesota United and Real Salt Lake win the race for the last two spots in the West, defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers in what turned out to be effectively an appetizer for the actual postseason. Minnesota largely held Vancouver to little en route to a 2-0 win in St. Paul, while the Timbers controversially dropped midfielder Eryk Williamson and were run over by RSL, falling behind by three goals before a very late goal gave them a more respectable-sounding 3-1 loss.

While the playoff dates and times are yet to be announced, we now know all 14 playoff teams, and what the first round looks like.

Hany Mukhtar made his MVP case in front of his biggest rival for the prize

The Nashville SC star made a major statement with his second-half brace

Sebastián Driussi has been the MLS MVP-in-waiting for most of 2022, but Hany Mukhtar clearly isn’t ready to hand him the award yet.

Nashville SC star Mukhtar made a real statement against Driussi and Austin FC on Saturday night, scoring two goals in the second half in a 3-0 win.

With the home crowd chanting “MVP” all evening, the brace put Mukhtar atop the MLS Golden Boot race with 21 goals — one more than Driussi.

Mukhtar also has 11 assists, becoming only the fifth player in MLS history to post a 20 and 10 season.

After the game, the Nashville star made it clear he was well aware of the MVP stakes going into the contest.

“I have to give, first of all, credit to Driussi,” Mukhtar said after the match. “He’s played an amazing season, he’s an amazing player. I was with him in the MLS All-Star Week. He’s a good guy, very nice guy, very humble.

“But of course, in the end, I am here to win something with Nashville. And I think I’ve played a very good season, so obviously I want to win also the MVP award.”

Watch Mukhtar’s two goals vs. Austin FC

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MLS Madness spreads nationwide as league breaks goalscoring record

MLS was, even by MLS standards, completely bonkers Saturday night

Summer in MLS can be a rough time. You’re too far away from the real pressure of making or missing the playoffs, it’s hot and humid everywhere, teams are figuring it out after transfer window moves. It can feel very much like everyone’s biding their time for September and October.

Not August 6. MLS Madness™ took hold in nearly every corner of the country, with goals galore, teams scoring and conceding in the deepest depths of stoppage time, big-name stars scoring bangers, and everyone basically went bananas. It was a perfect advertisement for the league: fun, flawed, weird, and inexplicable.

For one thing, MLS broke a league record for goals scored in one night. Across 13 games Saturday night, teams combined for 57 goals, an average of well over four per game. The old record of 46 was left in the dust.

As the league itself once said, This Stuff Kicks!

In chronological order, let’s go through one of the wildest nights in MLS history:

Lorenzo Insigne scores first MLS goal in 4-3 Toronto FC win vs. Nashville SC

Insigne’s first MLS goal was a banger

Lorenzo Insigne picked the perfect time to score his first MLS goal, scoring what turned out to be the winner for Toronto FC in a 4-3 road win against Nashville SC that verged on MLS Madness™.

TFC took three leads, as Jonathan Osorio scored a brace and their other big Serie A acquisition Federico Bernardeschi converted a second half penalty. However, their hosts kept fighting back, with Hany Mukhtar bagging a penalty of his own and Teal Bunbury scoring deep in first half stoppage time.

That set the stage for Insigne to produce some magic. With TFC up 3-2 in the 77th minute, Michael Bradley moved the ball to Insigne in a seemingly contained situation. Two Nashville players were locked in on Insigne, while Toronto’s attackers remained stagnant.

It didn’t matter. Insigne dipped his shoulder to turn and burst past both Nashville players, cut inside of a third, and fire a 24-yard bullet past Joe Willis.

Toronto still nearly put that to waste, as Walker Zimmerman got Nashville a late third, but the visitors held on to make it three straight without a loss.

Watch Insigne’s brilliant first MLS goal

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Orlando City complete 2022 US Open Cup semifinalist field after knocking out Nashville SC

Drama in Florida as Orlando goes through

The 2022 U.S. Open Cup semifinals are now completely set, as Orlando City emerged from a penalty kick shootout to eliminate 10-man Nashville SC Wednesday night.

With the winner of the game holding the top hosting priority for the Open Cup final after last week’s draw, both sides fielded close to their best eleven. Nashville made just two changes to the team that beat D.C. United 3-1 on the road on Saturday, while Orlando had rotated against FC Cincinnati in order to field starters like Mauricio Pereyra and Robin Jansson in the cup.

A sneaky finish from Nashville star Hany Mukhtar gave the Tennessean side a win at Orlando. The German DP seemed to have no angle on Alex Muyl’s cross, but threw a foot around his marker to gently guide a shot past a wrong-footed Pedro Gallese.

However, four minutes into stoppage time, and with Gallese sent forward for a last-ditch free kick, the Lions drew level. Benji Michel almost appeared lost in midair while winning the header on Alexandre Pato’s initial service, but he ended up knocking the ball down perfectly for Rodrigo Schlegel to fire home a dramatic equalizer.

Nashville substitute Sean Davis picked up a second yellow card just 50 seconds into extra time, opening the door for Orlando to complete their comeback.

Orlando pushed for a winner, but Nashville’s 10 men held on, carrying the match to penalties. Alex Muyl missed the visitors’ opening attempt in the tiebreaker, but Elliott Panicco’s save on Andres Perea kept Orlando from putting the game to bed.

Finally, in the seventh round, Gallese dove to his right to deny Eric Miller, propelling Orlando through to a semifinal they’ll get to play in front of their own fans.

2022 Open Cup semifinal venue/time

July 27: Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls
Exploria Stadium (Orlando, FL) – 7:30pm Eastern

July 27: Sacramento Republic FC vs. Sporting Kansas City
Heart Heath Park (Sacramento, CA) – 10:30pm Eastern

Both games will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+.

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US Open Cup semifinal and final hosting scenarios revealed

Sacramento gets a home semifinal!

U.S. Soccer conducted the final draw for the 2022 U.S. Open Cup, revealing who would host July’s two semifinal games, as well as determining the hosting priority for the final in September.

Neutrals got one outcome they wanted, with USL Championship club Sacramento Republic FC ending up the host of the western side of the bracket’s semifinal. Sacramento will host Sporting Kansas City at Heart Health Park, a venue in which they’ve tasted defeat just once in 16 Open Cup games over the years.

Sacramento produced a stunning upset Tuesday night to earn their place in the semifinals, defeating the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Over in the east, the winner of the Orlando City vs. Nashville SC quarterfinal (which will take place in Florida on June 29) will host the other semifinal, with the New York Red Bulls heading to either Exploria Stadium or Geodis Park.

Both semifinals do not have announced dates or times, though U.S. Soccer has scheduled both to be played on either July 26 or July 27.

The good news for Sacramento turned sour in the draw for hosting priority in the final. The Republic were drawn into the lowest priority, meaning that no matter who wins in the east, Sacramento will have to head on the road. The Orlando/Nashville winner got top priority, with Sporting KC second and the Red Bulls in third.

The date and time of the final is not settled, with U.S. Soccer stating that the game could be played on September 6-7 or September 13-14.

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Nashville SC’s Soccer Moses is letting his people goal

The third-year MLS club has been led from the desert to brand-new Geodis Park

Up in the stands at Nashville SC’s brand-new Geodis Park, a soccer prophet looks around at the sparkling new facility and believes he has reached the promised land.

Stephen Mason is not hard to miss in the crowd. Decked out in full-on Moses regalia, Mason has become a cult figure for the third-year MLS franchise.

In an interview with The Tennessean, Mason explained that the idea for the character came when a friend saw Nigeria’s Victor Moses score a goal at the 2018 World Cup, causing him to exclaim: “Let my people goal!”

Mason put the phrase on a T-shirt, and it caught on from there: “It started as a joke and then it got carried away,” he said.

Also, it should be noted that Soccer Moses can absolutely shred.

That’s because in addition to being a barber and a celebrity soccer fan, Mason is also a founding member of the popular Christian rock group Jars of Clay.

Witnessing the opening of Geodis Park earlier this month, Mason said he felt like he and the club had been led out of the desert.

“You fast-forward three, long years in the wilderness, and we ended up at the promised land,” he said. “I’m feeling really grateful for the people alongside in this journey that’ve supported the club, the community around it and watched it grow to where we are today.”

Read Drake Hills’ full story on The Tennessean