NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Hany Mukhtar scored on a bicycle kick and added an assist as Nashville SC defeated Sporting Kansas City 4-0 Wednesday night at GEODIS Park, moving within one victory of the Supporters’ Shield.
Nashville extended its lead atop the MLS standings to 14 points and can secure the league’s best regular-season record with a win in any of its five remaining matches. Its next opportunity comes Saturday at San Jose following Vancouver’s scoreless draw with St. Louis on Wednesday.
Sam Surridge, Andy Najar and Warren Madrigal also scored for Nashville, which took a three-goal lead within the opening 30 minutes against the Western Conference’s last-place team.
Mukhtar opened the scoring before the 10-minute mark. Reed Baker-Whiting sent a ball to Najar on the right side, and Najar delivered a cross that Mukhtar finished with an overhead strike into the far side of the net.
The goal was Mukhtar’s 15th of the season and fifth in his past four matches. He has scored in each of those games.
Mukhtar then helped set up Surridge’s goal. Matthew Corcoran played a ball ahead to Baker-Whiting, whose first-time pass found Mukhtar in the penalty area. Mukhtar drew a defender before feeding Surridge for a first-time finish at the near post.
Najar extended the lead to 3-0 with a header from close range off Cristian Espinoza’s corner kick. Espinoza earned his 14th assist of the season, tying Lionel Messi, Rodrigo De Paul and Albert Rusnak for the league lead.
Nashville limited Kansas City to one shot on target, with goalkeeper Brian Schwake making one save to preserve the shutout. Nashville finished with 3.77 expected goals to Kansas City’s 0.47.
Defenders Maxwell Woledzi and Jeisson Palacios helped contain Andre Luiz, who entered the match with seven goals in his first seven appearances for Sporting. Corcoran and Eddi Tagseth limited Kansas City’s opportunities through midfield while combining for 11 passes into the attacking third.
With Nashville in control, coach B.J. Callaghan brought on Madrigal, Shak Mohammed, Bryan Acosta and Dan Lovitz for Mukhtar, Espinoza, Corcoran and Najar.
Madrigal converted a penalty kick late in second-half stoppage time to complete Nashville’s seventh four-goal performance of the season.
Nashville visits San Jose on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. CDT with a chance to clinch the Supporters’ Shield.
