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Nashville Rues Missed Opportunities against Tampa Bay

By JOHN ARLIA - john.arlia@uslsoccer.com, 09/19/18, 12:58PM EDT

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Hosts struggled to break down Rowdies in Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at First Tennessee Park


Matt Lagrassa tries to bring the ball down for NSC against a pair of Tampa Bay Rowdies. | Photo courtesy John Wilkinson III / Nashville SC

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nashville SC Head Coach Gary Smith said his side “squandered too many opportunities” as it missed out on the chance to jump into the top eight of the Eastern Conference on Tuesday night as his side suffered its second loss in its past three games at First Tennessee Park in a 2-1 defeat to a defensive-minded Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Serving as one of NSC's games in hand on the teams surrounding it in the race for the 2018 USL Cup Playoffs, the match served as a missed opportunity as the hosts held 56.3 percent possession and attempted 27 crosses and 14 shots, but weren’t clinical enough in the final third to take advantage of that edge in play against an organized Tampa Bay defense.

“They came here having played on the weekend with a game plan, which was to counterattack,” said Smith after the game. “They were prepared to absorb pressure. We were not efficient enough often enough from wide areas. Our crossing ability was below the sort of standards I would have expected from the guys on the field, and therefore we squandered too many opportunities in good areas.”

Smith, who was joined on the sideline by former U.S. Men's National Team midfielder Pablo Mastroeni for Tuesday’s USL Game of the Week, was also critical of his side’s slow start as Nashville fell behind in the sixth minute after conceding a penalty kick. Rowdies forward Georgi Hristov latched onto Kwadwo Poku’s through pass behind the NSC defense and was brought down in the box by onrushing goalkeeper and former teammate Matt Pickens.

“I knew exactly what Georgi was going to do for the most part, but obviously I’ve still got to be prepared if he’s going to shoot the ball, and my angle to come out was to block the goal first,” Pickens said. “Georgi had no intention of shooting the ball, so he takes a touch, it goes that way out of bounds and the slightest of touches and the ref’s going to call it. Georgi knows what he’s doing. I mean, Georgi knows exactly what he’s doing, but that’s the play.”

Hristov kept his nerve from the spot and sent his penalty down the middle of the goal to record his seventh tally of the season, all of which have come in Rowdies’ victories.

Lebo Moloto equalized for Nashville in the 20th minute with his second goal in as many games and with the pressure the hosts began to build over the remainder of the first half it appeared the home side would go on to grab three points as he and Tucker Hume both had chances to beat Rowdies goalkeeper Daniel Vega and put the side ahead. Vega got down low quickly to deny Hume nine minutes later and then got some help from defender Pape Diakite, who cleared Hume’s chip off the line two minutes before halftime.

Tampa Bay snatched the lead on a counterattacking move midway through the second half as substitute Junior Flemmings got into space behind the defense on the right wing and fired a cross into the six-yard box that was headed past Pickens by NSC defender London Woodberry. Nashville’s first own goal in club history proved to be the decider as Vega denied Brandon Allen late in stoppage time and Moloto fired the rebound over the crossbar to sum up another tough night in front of goal for the side. 

“There are too many moments that are squandered, and it’s really been a feature of our group all year,” Smith said. “We’ve made enough moments throughout games. We’ve limited teams to enough moments at the other end, but the big difference tonight was that they were clinical when it mattered.”

Nashville’s lack of clinical finishing has been an issue throughout its inaugural season as the side has struggled to break down teams that play with a defensive, counterattacking mindset. NSC has recorded just 30 goals in 28 games – level with Ottawa Fury FC for the fewest among teams in the USL Cup Playoffs picture.

NSC currently sits two points behind the New York Red Bulls II for eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings and while it has games in hand on teams directly ahead of them, the side will have to find the net more often over its six remaining matches starting with Saturday’s crucial contest against a Charleston Battery squad that has deployed a similar counterattacking style throughout this season to that the Rowdies used to emerge with all three points. 

With the Battery looking to pick up three points as they chase the second spot in the East and an eighth consecutive postseason berth, Nashville's attack will face another challenging night against a side that has conceded the third-fewest goals in the league this season.

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