Recap: Surridge brace battles Nashville SC to hard-fought draw with FC Cincinnati

NASHVILLE, TN – Nashville SC and FC Cincinnati battled to a 2-2 draw at Geodis Park on Saturday night, as the Coyotes moved to within a point of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The XI

Head coach BJ Callaghan made several changes to the lineup, switching to a back three to match Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan’s preferred system.

Julian Gaines made his first MLS start for Nashville, with Taylor Washington making his first start under BJ Callaghan on the left wing. Jonny Pérez also started his first match since joining on loan from LA Galaxy.

On the pitch

It was a dream start for the Coyotes. After just five minutes, Peréz clipped a ball across the box to Washington, and the USL original cut it back to Sam Surridge, who had an easy finish into an open net.

Just before halftime, Surriddge made it a brace. Hany Mukhtar swung in a corner kick, finding the head of the striker, who headed down into the bottom corner for his 11th MLS goal of the season, and his third goal in two games.

Cincinnati were just as dangerous. Lucho Acosta equalized in the ninth minute. The reigning MLS MVP received a pass from Luca Orellano at the top of the box, rolling the ball under the sole of his foot before curling a shot off the post past a completely frozen Joe Willis.

Early in the second half, Orellano leveled the match once again with a perfectly-struck free kick past Joe Willis, stinging his palm on the way into the top corner.

The match wasn’t without controversy, though. Both teams had seemingly good goals called back for offside. Nicholas Gioacchini thought he had equalized jsut before halftime, but referee Sergii Demianchuk (who was a last-minute replacement for Pierre-Luc Lauziere) and his crew opted to call the goal off for interference by Yamil Asad, who was in an offside positon.

Similarly, Hany Mukhtar had a would-be winner pulled back in the 49th minute, with the officials again deeming that Sam Surridge impacted the play from an offside position.

While both sides will feel aggrieved, a point was a fair result.

The big picture

Playing against one of the best sides in MLS, Nashville played one of their better matches of the season, trading blows with a team that has scored the fourth-most goals in the East. Sam Surridge became just the third Nashville played not named Hany Mukhtar to score 10 league goals in a season, while Mukhtar had another high-impact performance under BJ Callaghan.

A win would have seen Nashville finish the night in playoff position, but the draw has them in 13th, just a single point outside of the playoff places. They have matches against DC United (12th) Chicago (14th), and New England (14th) still on the schedule, meaning making the postseason isn’t nearly as wild a thought as it was just weeks ago.

Up next

Nashville will travel to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution next Saturday, September 28.

Highlights

Stats

Possession: NSH 32% – 68% CIN
Passes completed: NSH 213 – 526 CIN
Shots: NSH 7 – 13 CIN
Shots on goal: NSH 2 – 4 CIN
Penalty kicks: NSH 0 – 0 CIN
Expected goals: NSH 0.66 – 1.11 CIN
Goals: NSH 2 – 2 CIN
Fouls: NSH 12 – 13 CIN
Yellow cards: NSH 3 – 4 CIN
Red cards: NSH 0 – 0 CIN