Nashville SC delivered a commanding 4-0 victory over FC Cincinnati on Saturday night, extending their remarkable unbeaten run and continuing the best start in MLS history.
Sam Surridge scored his 13th goal of the season and added an assist, while Hany Mukhtar also contributed a goal and an assist to round out a dominant team performance.
Nashville now sit at 16-2-4 on the season, accumulating 52 points through their first 22 games, the most any MLS side has ever recorded at this stage of a campaign.
The result extended Nashville’s current unbeaten run to 15 of their last 16 games, their only blemish being a 1-0 defeat at Chicago on April 4.
Bryan Acosta and Ahmed Qasem also got on the scoresheet, ensuring Nashville closed out the match emphatically with four unanswered goals across the ninety minutes.
Surridge broke the deadlock with a header in the 43rd minute, rising high at the back post to finish a cross from Cristian Espinoza, who was played in by Andy Nájar.
Mukhtar doubled the lead in the 54th minute with a sharp first-touch finish, redirecting a cross to make it 2-0 and continue his rich vein of form, having now scored in back-to-back games and netted four goals in his last four matches.
Acosta, introduced as a substitute for Eddi Tagseth in the 87th minute, made an immediate impact, skipping a first-touch shot inside the left post in the 90th minute from a Mukhtar free kick to make it 3-0.
Qasem then completed the rout in the sixth minute of stoppage time, capping a thoroughly convincing night for Nashville in front of their home supporters.
Goalkeeper Brian Schwake was largely untroubled but still managed six saves, taking his season total to 10 shutouts, tying him with Jonathan Bond and Yohei Takaoka for second most in MLS behind Hugo Lloris, who has 11.
Nashville are now on pace to finish the season with 80 points, a figure that would comfortably shatter the MLS record of 74 points set by Inter Miami during the 2024 regular season.
FC Cincinnati, meanwhile, endured a difficult evening, with Roman Celentano making three saves as the visitors were shut out for only the third time this season and the first since March.
Cincinnati have now conceded four or more goals in five separate matches this season, a troubling trend as they sit sixth in the Eastern Conference at 8-7-7 with 31 points.
The Ohio side remain three points ahead of New York City FC and three points behind New England as they look to arrest a winless run stretching back four consecutive games.
