DC United’s winless streak was extended to six MLS matches with a 3-1 defeat at home to Nashville SC on Saturday.
The Black and Red came into the match at Audi Field off the back of disappointing 1-0 and 4-1 defeats away at the Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls, respectively, and would have been hoping home advantage could help turn the tide.
Those hopes were dashed inside just seven minutes, though, as Nashville wing-back Daniel Lovitz crashed in at the far post to give the visitors a well-deserved early lead.
Both sides traded chances from there but it was once again Nashville celebrating just before half-time, with Hany Mukhtar converting a Dax McCarty pass, taking full advantage of a cheap loss of possession from DC United.
Mukhtar then made it 3-0 just after the break with his shot taking a deflection off Steve Birnbaum to go beyond Rafael Romo – effectively finishing the game.
Substitutes Nigel Robertha and Michael Estrada improved DC United and the two combined to help Taxi Fountas pull one back for the hosts, but Nashville were never in real danger of losing their lead and maintained control of the match.
Here are the full player ratings from a dominant performance by Gary Smith’s men:
No. 6️⃣ on the year for @T_Fountas 🚖 #VamosUnited | #DCvNSH pic.twitter.com/jLTocDR3yV
— D.C. United (@dcunited) June 25, 2022
GK: Rafael Romo – 5/10 – Left horribly exposed by some terrible DC United defending.
RWB: Julian Gressel – 4/10 – Failed to provide the usual attacking thrust and was partly at fault for Nashville’s opener.
RCB: Andy Najar – 3/10 – Left all sorts of space for Nashville to attack into and will likely never live down his air shot in the 11th minute.
CB: Brendan Hines-Ike – 5/10 – Made a couple of important tackles but that only masked over a disorganized personal and team performance.
LCB: Steven Birnbaum – 5/10 – Deflected Mukhtar’s second into his own net but gave more than most to the DCU defensive cause.
LWB: Brad Smith – 5/10 – Failed to get DC United going down the left.
CM: Russell Canouse – 4/10 – Overrun in midfield and didn’t contribute too much going forward.
CM: Sofiane Djeffal – 5/10 – Played a couple of nice passes but had little effect on the game. Subbed out at half-time.
CM: Chris Durkin – 6/10 – A nice dummy for Fountas’ goal and gave more than most for DC United going forward.
ST: Ola Kamara – 4/10 – Created a couple of half-chances but was almost totally ineffective for DC United.
ST: Taxiarchis Fountas – 6/10 – Improved in the second half and got on the scoresheet, making up for a sloppy play that allowed Nashville to break and open the scoring early on.
SUB: Nigel Robertha (for Djeffal, 46′) – 7/10 – Immediately improved DC United, stretching the Nashville defense with his runs into the channels. Assisted Fountas’ goal.
SUB: Michael Estrada (for Kamara, 56′) – 7/10 – Like Robertha, Estrada added a different dimension for DC United and was involved in their goal.
SUB: Donovan Pines (for Gressel, 56′) – 6/10 – Helped to steady the DC United defense, though the damage was already done.
SUB: Kimarni Smith (for Smith, 71′) – 5/10 – Failed to influence the game at all.
SUB: Drew Skundrich (for Canouse, 83′) – 5/10 – Didn’t get into the game.
Back-to-back road matches with a brace for that 〽️an 〽️ukhtar
Send him to the @MLS All-Star Game: https://t.co/POjOgLbP62 pic.twitter.com/duG2SKMal8
— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) June 25, 2022
GK: Joe Willis – 6/10 – Couldn’t stop Fountas’ consolation goal but did his job well otherwise.
CB: Jack Maher – 6/10 – Wasn’t overworked but kept his defending simple and effective.
CB: Walker Zimmerman – 6/10 – A couple of sloppy moments but was never in any real danger.
CB: David Romney – 7/10 – Completely dominant on and off the ground. Won five of his seven aerial duels.
RWB: Alex Muyl – 6/10 – Energetic and always trying to make things happen, but couldn’t connect with his final ball.
CM: Dax McCarty – 8/10 – Grabbed an assist for Mukhtar’s first goal and offered great control on both sides of the ball.
CM: Sean Davis – 7/10 – A typical Davis performance involving plenty of precise passing and breaking up of opposition moves.
LWB: Daniel Lovitz – 8/10 – Got things going with an early goal and was a threat bursting forward throughout.
CAM: Randall Leal – 8/10 – First start since May 8 but you wouldn’t have thought so given the energy and creativity from Leal.
CAM: Hany Mukhtar – 9/10 – Two more goals in another decisive performance from Mukhtar, who continues to be the heart and soul of this Nashville team.
ST: CJ Sapong – 7/10 – Didn’t get any looks at goal himself but created for others and was a handful for the DC United center-backs.
SUB: Luke Haakenson (for Leal, 62′) – 6/10 – Added some solidity to Nashville’s midfield to halt DCU’s progress.
SUB: Ake Loba (for Sapong, 74′) – 5/10 – Tried a little too hard to prove himself and ended up losing the ball a lot.
SUB: Tah Anunga (for McCarty, 74′) – 5/10 – Didn’t really get going.
SUB: Ethan Zubak (for Mukhtar, 86′) – N/A – Came on too late to have any impact in attack.
SUB: Taylor Washington (for Lovitz, 86′) – N/A – Barely got involved.
