Nashville SC extends home unbeaten streak to five games in 1-1 draw with Houston Dynamo
Drake HillsDaniel Rios had his most eventful week of 2020.
The Nashville SC striker scored back-to-back goals in his two latest starts since the 25-year-old made his full MLS debut Aug. 26.
His 49th minute goal in Saturday's game against the Houston Dynamo at Nissan Stadium was enough to seal a 1-1 draw for Nashville. Houston center back Maynor Figueroa scored an equalizing header in the 90th minute.
The Rios goal was quite the turnaround from a revoked penalty Nashville earned in the 22nd minute and what could have been the first goal of the game for Rios in the 33rd minute. However it was reversed, as the linesman ruled the striker offside when right back Jalil Anibaba made the pass.
Nashville now has five consecutive unbeaten games at Nissan Stadium. Here are five observations about how it happened:
Like the good old days
Rios has 41 combined goals for Nashville in its two previous seasons playing in the USL. Though the scoring rate for Rios is not there just yet in MLS, his confidence in Saturday's game was exuded at the same level.
Rios' goal started from midfielder Derrick Jones, who had just come into the game at halftime, forced a turnover and made a beeline down the left-hand side of the field. Jones cut in on his right and forced Figueroa to close him down, leaving Rios open on his right side.
A simple Jones pass set up Rios for a one-on-one opportunity with Houston goalkeeper Marko Maric, and Rios was able to slide the ball into the bottom right netting for the goal.
Overcoming adversity
The first-half statistics showed Nashville failing to register a shot on goal and one shot that went arid. Yet that turned out to be only part of the truth.
The Rios goal that was called back, reviewed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), was a call based on a finicky offside rule, Nashville coach Gary Smith said. He said he had only seen the replay on the jumbotron but still believes the space between Rios and the Houston defender wasn't enough.
"I'm bitterly disappointed," Smith said. "I find it disappointing that somebody can score a goal and have their big toenail just offside and we cancel it out. I'm not sure that that's the way we want the game to go, either. It left everyone shaking their heads."
Late-game fatigue
To assume a player expects his team to concede a goal is ludicrous. However, as frustrating as Figueroa's set piece header was to witness, Nashville center back Walker Zimmerman sensed Houston gaining ground just minutes before the equalizer.
"I think we found ourselves in the past few games now where we're dropping a little deep and we're absorbing a lot of opportunities," Zimmerman said. "And that is going to be natural sometimes late in the game when you're when you are protecting a lead.
"We knew that we were defending a little deeper and they were taking more ground, but at no point do I think anyone thought that we were gonna let up a goal."
Smith agreed, citing the inability to refresh his team with a David Accam, an Abu Danladi or a Dominique Badji — all of whom are injured. To Smith, the more reinforcements up front, the more difficult it would have been for Houston to quickly advance the ball up field.
"There's no doubt we finished looking tired leggy and lacking any real punch up front, which is understandable with all of our forwards injured at the moment," Smith said.
Unbeaten at Nissan Stadium
Since the MLS regular season restart, Nashville has remained unbeaten at Nissan Stadium, beginning with its 1-0 win over Inter Miami CF Aug. 30.
Several Nashville players threw their hands up in the air when Figueroa equalized, but keep the one point from the draw in their pockets.
Up next
Nashville will travel to Boston on Oct. 3 to face the New England Revolution, who currently sit fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Central.
For stories about Nashville SC or Soccer in Tennessee, contact Drake Hills at DHills@gannett.com. Follow Drake on Twitter at @LiveLifeDrake.