What Hany Mukhtar's historic MLS goal means to Nashville SC
· Yahoo Sports
Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar didn't know how historically significant his goal against the Columbus Crew on March 14 at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field was.
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To be fair, no one should have expected him to. His goal was the 25,000th in the history of Major League Soccer, which is probably just slightly more than the average person can fathom.
And MLS goal No. 25,000 was far more important than just a footnote. It was a dramatic, stoppage-time winner on the road, which delivered Nashville SC (3-0-1, 10 points) a 1-0 victory over Columbus (0-2-2, two points). In the process, Nashville extended its season-opening unbeaten streak across all competitions to seven games, tying the club record set in 2022.
In the 94th minute, Andy Najar passed to Cristian Espinoza, who timed his run from the edge of the penalty box, got the ball and sent Crew defender Rudy Camacho to the ground with a quick crossover dribble. That move created enough space for Espinoza to cross to Mukhtar, who only needed to tap the ball home.
"We know how difficult it is in MLS to get the win on the road," Mukhtar said. "But I have to give all the credit to Cristian Espinoza. He set it up perfectly."
The win in Columbus was the type that gives Nashville real reason to think it has improved from 2025. For one, it came away from home, which happened five times in MLS play last season. It also took place just three days after a 0-0 tie against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup round of 16 series. Leg 2 in Florida is scheduled for March 18.
"When you want to be an elite team, and you play multiple competitions, this is the thing you have to do," Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan said. "You have to play on Saturdays and Wednesdays. For us, we have confidence in this group. We know that it's a deep group and there's a lot of experience."
With eyes toward the second leg against Miami, Mukhtar, Espinoza and Sam Surridge began the game on the bench. Nashville absorbed a possession-heavy Crew attack in the first half before Callaghan subbed Mukhtar and Surridge on at halftime, while Espinoza, Najar and Patrick Yazbek entered the game later.
"I think they did a good job (in the first half)," Mukhtar said. "They fought, and we were in the game, and we knew that if we can bring in fresh legs for the second half, we can have a chance to push. We saw that the last 10 minutes, we created a lot of chances. We tried to score, and we did it. In the end, the plan was well-executed."
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at [email protected] and on X/Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hany Mukhtar scores 25,000th goal in MLS history in Nashville SC win