Sam Surridge converted a penalty kick in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to give host Nashville SC a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.
After Nashville star Hany Mukhtar was the recipient of a clumsy foul in the box from RSL’s Nelson Palacio in the 89th minute, it was Surridge who stepped to the spot. And in the 91st minute, he drove the ball by RSL keeper Rafael Cabral for the tiebreaker that helped Nashville (4-3-1, 13 points), which got a first-half goal from Daniel Lovitz, get back on track from consecutive 2-1 losses.
Dominik Marczuk opened the scoring Saturday for Salt Lake (3-5-0, 9 points), which was trying to win back-to-back matches for the first time this season. However, RSL were outshot 21-12 on overall attempts.
Amid a highly entertaining first half, in which the clubs nearly shared the possession and each had three shots on target, Salt Lake struck first. At 12 minutes in, Diogo Goncalves sent a drive that Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis made a diving two-hand save on, but Marczuk was there to bury the rebound.
Nashville, though, seemed to find life by being down a goal, and managed to get the equalizer at the half-hour mark. Off a well-placed corner from Eddi Tagseth, Lovitz outleaped the pack for a header that tucked inside the far post.
The home side was the aggressor right out of halftime.
Ahmed Qasem nearly put Nashville ahead in the 52nd minute, but his flick with the left foot went over the crossbar. Moments later, Qasem had another up-front chance but missed wide.
Tagseth then hit the crossbar in the 65th minute.
Moments after Cabral got a paw on Alex Muyl’s up-close strike in the 71st minute, RSL appeared to go head via Jesus Barea’s goal in the 74th minute. However, Marczuk, in the build-up to the score, was ruled offside after video review and the goal was erased.
Jack Maher’s header off an 84th-minute corner for Nashville also barely went over the bar. Yet, five minutes later, Mukhtar was fouled in the box and Surridge converted the eventual winner.
–Field Level Media
