D.C. United fell 5-2 against Nashville SC in their 19th match of the 2021 Major League Soccer (MLS) Regular Season. Despite a fast start, United were unable to overcome the strong attacking play of Nashville and fell to 8-8-3 with 27 points accumulated on the season. The Black-and-Red remain in sixth place and in a playoff spot with 15 matches to go on the season.
D.C. United played with Jon Kempin in goal and Steve Birnbaum, Frédéric Brillant, and Tony Alfaro as the back three. Julian Gressel and Kevin Paredes started as the two wingbacks and Junior Moreno and Moses Nyeman partnered in in the center of midfield. Yordy Reyna, Ola Kamara, and Paul Arriola started as the front three for the Black-and-Red.
Frédéric Brillant was the star of the opening ten minutes as he opened the scoring with a header off a Julian Gressel corner kick and just minutes later made two consecutive goal line clearances in a matter of seconds. Brilliant’s goal was the first of the season for him, and the assist was the fifth of the season by Gressel. Nashville equalized in the 15th minute when C.J. Sapong finished with a header into the bottom right corner. Sapong doubled his tally with another headed goal in the 31st minute. Nashville’s third goal came from a strike from outside the box by Hany Mukhtar in the 37th minute. Unted pulled one back right before the half in the 41st minute as Ola Kamara cleverly volleyed home after Paul Arriola picked him out with a perfect looping diagonal into the box. The goal was Kamara’s 11th of the season. Nashville went into the break leading 3-2.
As United pushed for the equalizer Nashville restored their two-goal lead in the 80th minute thanks to second-half substitute Alex Muyl. Muyl scored his second of the night late in the match from the penalty spot and the game ended 5-2 in favor of the hosts.
D.C. United will look to bounce back quickly on Wednesday night when they travel to New England to take on Eastern Conference leaders, the New England Revolution at 7:00 p.m. EST. Â Tune into NBC Sports Washington, TeleXitos, and www.dcunited.com to watch the match.
