NASHVILLE – Nashville SC claimed only 43.1% of possession against Louisville City FC yesterday, but as NSC fans have become all-too familiar in the past several weeks, what’s important is not possessing the ball, but what you do with it. The Boys in Gold were able to capitalize on a right-footed blast by forward Lebo Moloto in the 39th minute, and a headed effort from Moloto in the 84th to take down the previous league leaders in a massive home win.
“We’ve created chances [in previous games]; we’ve performed well, but we haven’t clinched the deal in one game,” said Nashville SC head coach Gary Smith. “For the first time today, I’ve think you’ve seen against one of the teams on the top side, if not the top side, under very difficult conditions, some serious character in this group.
“I’m absolutely delighted that we beat them. There’s a lot for the guys to take away from this one. I think this is the first time we have shown the ruthlessness to be a winner.”
It was Moloto’s performance that drew the most attention. Among the league leaders in shots taken through two Nashville SC games, Moloto had yet to find the back of the net through seven games. His struggles to finish goals – after using his savvy and athleticism to get in position to take those chances – had been emblematic of the team’s overall difficulty in scoring.
He ended his personal drought on a blast from the top of the box, assisted by striker Ropapa Mensah (fellow offensive producer Alan Winn was subbed on in the 70th minute, as he’s been struggling with a minor injury). Shortly before the end of the contest, he put the finishing touch on the contest with a headed effort from a beautiful cross off the left foot of midfielder and captain Michael Reed.
If anything, his veritable offensive explosion was a relief for the South African.
“It is, it is,” he admitted with a smile. “I was just hoping like ‘man, today is the day.’ I just needed to get one goal, even if we’re playing against Louisville or whoever. I just needed that first goal. I was lucky enough to get the second goal.”
Louisville started the game strong, and was able to fire eight shots in the first half. However, a compact defense for Nashville SC allowed only one of those attempts to make its way to the target, and veteran goalkeeper Matt Pickens was able to easily save it. LCFC took fewer shots – but the ones they did get off were more dangerous, with 3/5 on-target – after the break, but still couldn’t beat Pickens.
The shutout was Nashville’s fifth of the season, and keeping a clean sheet against a Louisville City team that was victorious at Louisville Slugger Field nearly two months ago by a reversed 2-0 scoreline was quite the feat. While the Boys in Purple were able to tally twice in the first salvo of the series, their offense didn’t truly open up until striker Cameron Lancaster (who didn’t see the pitch in the first match) entered the starting lineup.
Despite accounting for six of the LCFC shots, three of them on the frame, Lancaster and his teammates were unable to solve Nashville SC. Reed and the rest of the defensive specialists (if you can even classify the assist-man in that regard any longer) deserve a lot of credit for limiting a potent offense.
“It’s one of the hardest things to do besides scoring goals,” he said of keeping a clean sheet. “The fact that we were able to do both today kind of should be a testament to what kind of a team we are, especially at home.”
The game turned chippy in the second half, with three Nashville SC players (defenders Bradley Bourgeois and Liam Doyle, and midfielder Taylor Washington) and Lancaster earning yellow cards. Flow was further disrupted with a brief pause in each half for a water break on the 90-plus-degree day. In the end though, the deserving team won.
While Nashville didn’t consistently create as much danger as Louisville City, the danger it did create was far more potent (while plenty of LCFC’s offense came from the low-percentage strategy of crossing to a target-man, which they’ve done with some success since Lancaster’s emergence). Nothing indicates that to a stronger degree than putting two past an elite keeper like Greg Ranjitsingh, especially given he plays behind a defense that had given up the opportunity for just four goals to date heading into the Nashville match.
Tied at one win apiece, the teams will play a rubber match in Louisville Aug. 18. Nashville’s next action comes Wednesday, in a US Open Cup derby against Inter Nashville FC at Vanderbilt Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium. The Boys in Gold return to league action in nearly two weeks, with a road trip to Charleston May 26.
With Sunday’s victory, NSC improves to eighth place in the USL’s Eastern Conference on 12 points. They’re behind the Tampa Bay Rowdies on a tiebreaker (games won, rather than goal differential) with a game in hand on both TBR and sixth-place New York Red Bulls II, who sit on 14 points with nine games played.
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