Philadelphia wins slug fest to end Nashville's home streak

Updated: Jul 13, 2023, 04:16 am

Daniel Gazdag converted a penalty kick on either side of half-time, and the Philadelphia Union halted Nashville SC's eight-game, all-competitions home winning streak with a 2-0 victory on Wednesday night.

After being pushed in the box by Nashville defender Daniel Lovitz on an entry in the 38th minute, Gazdag easily beat the Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis to convert Philadelphia's first penalty chance since May 27.

After Lovitz clumsily took down the Union's Mikkel Uhre for his second yellow card of the night, Gazdag came through in the 84th to help Philadelphia (11-7-4, 37 points) end an 0-3-1 road slide.

Nashville (11-7-5, 38 points), which recorded 19 overall shots, lost for the fourth time in five matches and saw an 8-0-2 overall home streak end. Before Gazdag's second goal, Nashville nearly leveled the match, but star Hany Mukhtar hit the woodwork in the 52nd minute. Seven minutes later, Sean Davis went over the bar on a redirect from Union keeper Joe Bendik.

Nashville suffered its first home defeat since a 1-0 loss to FC Cincinnati on March 25.

The woodwork again rescued Philadelphia when Fafa Picault's 69th-minute header off a Mukhtar corner hit the crossbar. Nashville thought it earned a penalty kick in the 73rd minute when a handball in the box was whistled on the Union's Jack McGlynn but it was overturned by VAR for lack of intent.

Nashville finished two men down and Philadelphia with 10 after the home side's Shaq Moore and Union's Julian Carranza were issued matching red cards in stoppage time.

Though Nashville held a good chunk of the early possession, the match's first true chance came from the Union. However, Quinn Sullivan's ninth-minute strike hit the left post.

Four minutes later, Nashville's first golden opportunity came through Lukas MacNaughton's scissor attempt that bounced over the bar. Moments later, Nashville's Teal Bunbury also missed high via a two-on-one. In the 18th minute, a MacNaughton giveaway saw the ball end up with Sullivan, whose strike was saved by Willis.

Philadelphia prevailed despite playing without star keeper Andre Blake (international duty) and All-Star midfielder Jose Martinez (illness).