NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville SC fell 1-0 to Club León on Wednesday night at GEODIS Park, ending its unbeaten home run across all competitions.
The Boys in Gold entered the match unbeaten at home in MLS play at 8-0-1 and 12-2-4 overall in league competition.
Nashville’s struggles against Liga MX opponents continued with the loss. The club dropped to 0-2-1 against Mexican teams this season following earlier Concacaf Champions Cup matches against Tigres UANL and Club América.
With several players unavailable because of injury and the club in the middle of a stretch of four matches in 15 days, coach B.J. Callaghan used a heavily rotated lineup. Nashville’s starting XI had an average age of 24.3 years, the youngest in club history.
Club León nearly opened the scoring in the 14th minute, but defender Thomas Williams cleared a shot off the goal line after goalkeeper Xavier Valdez was beaten.
Nashville came close to breaking the deadlock in the 70th minute when substitute Sam Surridge directed a header toward goal, but León goalkeeper Oscar García made a diving save.
The match’s only goal came in the 79th minute. Sebastián Santos gained possession near the top of the penalty area and set up Daniel Arcilla, who finished from close range.
Callaghan brought on several regular starters in the second half, including Surridge, Eddi Tagseth, Andy Najar and Daniel Lovitz, but Nashville was unable to equalize.
The loss dropped Nashville to 2-2-1 across all competitions since returning from the World Cup break. The club has scored four goals during that stretch and has been shut out twice.
