NASHVILLE – A weather delay seemed to carry over to live game action early in First Tennessee Park, with a half-hour stall causing the 7:30 game to kick off at 8 p.m. …and neither team able to muster much dangerous action through 45 minutes on the pitch.
Nashville SC did manage a couple attempts on the North Carolina FC net, but couldn’t quite solve keeper Alex Tambakis. The best chance came in the 21st minute, when a floated header for the top corner by Matt LaGrassa barely kept out with a lunge toward the corner of the net from Tambakis.
Things would liven up not too long after. Marios Lomis answered with a headed attempt of his own in the 30th minute, running under a driven through ball for a more direct path to goal. He was unable to put it to Matt Pickens’s left, however, and the Nashville keeper made a comfortable save.
In the 33rd minute, Nashville forward Lebo Moloto slid an attempt just wide of the post, and NCFC was able to take a couple swings on the other end, with the most dangerous of the shots blocked out by defender Liam Doyle. The end-to-end action then saw LaGrassa’s cross to Moloto deflected over the bar.
It was also a bit of a chippy first half, though there were only two cards to show for it. Nashville’s Brandon Allen was cautioned for a foul in the 16th, while North Carolina’s Austin Da Luz slid into Matt LaGrassa after a cross to earn one of his own (and a dangerous set piece to Nashville) in the 37th.
With the action picking up – but yet to pay off – stay tuned, because there’s certainly at least one goal in this game.
Starting lineups
Match events
- 16′ NSH Yellow card – 32 Brandon Allen (foul)
- 37′ NC Yellow card – 6 Austin Da Luz (foul)
- 45’+2 – Half time.
Club and Country 