Nashville SC beats New York City FC 1-0 on Tyler Boyd's header; unbeaten in three games

Make it 3-for-3 in a week for the boys in gold.

Nashville SC has gone undefeated in a busy three-game week after securing a 1-0 win Saturday over New York City FC at Geodis Park. NSC previously beat Toronto 2-1 on Wednesday and drew the New York Red Bulls 0-0 at home last Saturday.

"It was really hot out there tonight and obviously the third game in a week," Tyler Boyd said after the game. "It takes a lot of heart to put in a performance like that."

Nashville opened the scoring in the 24th minute via the head of Boyd, his first MLS goal for Nashville. Sam Surridge, once again playing on the left wing, secured a ball along the goal line before whipping a cross in the air straight to the head of Boyd in the center of the box.

Despite consistent pressure from NYCFC throughout the remainder of the game, the NSC defense held strong, allowing no shots on target over the course of the 90 minutes despite allowing 56% possession from NYCFC.

With the win, Nashville remains unbeaten all-time against NYCFC at home. This was the first match Nashville played against NYCFC this season and first time the sides have played each other since April 2023.

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As has been the case throughout the season, defense was the story for Nashville on Saturday. NYCFC controlled the ball for the majority of the game and not idly either, getting the ball into Nashville’s attacking third consistently.

Yet every time it seemed a big chance was destined to open up for an NYCFC player, in flew a Nashville defender to usher the ball to safety. Goalkeeper Joe Willis was not called into action much on Saturday as his defense, led by Walker Zimmerman, racked up 10 blocks.

Tyler Boyd re-entered the starting lineup against NYCFC, after coming off the bench midweek against Toronto and picking up the assist on the game winning goal. His impact was felt again on Saturday as he scored the eventual winner while providing a threat from the right flank.

"I think Tyler from start to finish, since he's gotten here, has been someone who effects the game positively," interim head coach Rumba Munthali said. "And somebody who's dangerous and is very dynamic and hard to cover ... I think the more he gets to play with Hany and Sam and Teal and those guys, he'll become even more and more effective."

Nashville improves to 3-3-1 since the appointment of Munthali. Now on 26 points, NSC moves up to 7^th in the MLS Eastern Conference, just three points behind NYCFC.

Nashville SC returns to the field next Saturday when they’ll take on Inter Miami at Geodis Park. Lionel Messi will not feature in the game as he’s on international duty with Argentina at the Copa America.

Harrison Campbell can be reached at hcampbell@gannett.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC beats New York City FC with Tyler Boyd's goal in MLS game