Hany Mukhtar Scores MLS's 25,000th Regular-Season Goal in Stoppage Time as Nashville SC Beat Crew 1-0

Patrick Schulte had just made the save. Hany Mukhtar's header from point-blank range was pushed away, the Columbus Crew were four minutes into stoppage time and a point was right there. Then Cristian Espinoza got the ball back to Mukhtar, he poked it in with his left foot, and Major League Soccer's odometer rolled over.

That goal was the 25,000th regular-season goal in MLS history, per the league, and it gave Nashville SC a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday night at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. In front of 19,960 fans, the only score of the night arrived in the 94th minute, and the club said it is the first time Nashville has ever been 3W-0L-1D in MLS.

The Goal That Wasn't

Columbus had the better of the first half and thought it had the lead after 18 minutes. The Crew said Taha Habroune followed up a Max Arfsten shot that hit the post and put it in, but the goal was overturned after a VAR review, with Arfsten caught offside, per the AP. A lucky escape for Nashville, and not the last one.

The visitors spent much of the half in the referee's notebook. Jack Maher was booked in the ninth minute, and Ahmed Qasem and Woobens Pacius followed in the 41st and 42nd, making it three Nashville yellow cards before halftime. Brian Schwake made an early save on a Wessam Abou Ali shot from distance in the 11th minute, Andrés Herrera dragged an effort just wide in the 26th, and Maher forced Schulte into a low save with a header off a Bryan Acosta cross in the 39th.

The closest call came in first-half stoppage time. Arfsten let fly from outside the box, and the shot crashed off the crossbar. Columbus had now hit the woodwork twice and had nothing to show for it.

Nashville Reloads

Nashville made a double change at halftime, sending on Mukhtar and Sam Surridge for Qasem and Pacius. Surridge had Nashville's first real look of the half, a shot from the center of the box in the 61st minute that Schulte saved. Espinoza replaced Warren Madrigal six minutes later.

Columbus kept probing without breaking through. André Gomes, who the Crew said was making his Columbus debut and played 63 minutes, sent a shot high and wide early in the half. Sean Zawadzki sent one just wide in the 74th, Schwake saved from Herrera in the 79th and Arfsten fired over in the 81st. The Crew finished with 17 crosses and did not complete a single one, which pretty much sums up the night in the final third.

The Turning Point: Second Chance, Historic Goal

Six minutes of stoppage time were announced, and Nashville used four of them. Daniel Lovitz crossed, Mukhtar's header from very close range was saved by Schulte, and moments later Espinoza picked him out. This time Schulte had no answer, with Mukhtar steering a left-footed finish into the middle of the goal. ESPN credited Espinoza with the assist; Nashville also listed Andy Nájar.

The league noted the milestone with a list going back to April 4, 1996, when Eric Wynalda scored the first goal in MLS history. Thirty years on, a Nashville substitute got the milestone.

Star Watch

Mukhtar came off the bench, took two shots, put both on target and decided the game. The 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP now has 84 goals in 183 appearances for Nashville, according to the AP, and the club said the goal was his 150th career MLS goal contribution, regular season and playoffs combined. Nashville added that he leads all active players in career MLS goal contributions.

Schwake made two saves for the shutout, and the club's numbers on him are getting silly. He is unbeaten in his first 12 starts for Nashville across all competitions, 10 wins and 2 draws, and the club said only one other goalkeeper in MLS history, Jorge Campos for the LA Galaxy in 1996, has gone unbeaten in his first 12 starts.

There were milestones scattered all over the lineup. Pacius made his first career MLS start, and Maher served as captain in an MLS match for the first time in his career, per the club. It also said Espinoza's assist was his 85th in MLS regular-season play.

For Columbus, the frustration was obvious. "I'm like burning up inside, and I know the players do the same," Crew head coach Henrik Rydström said. Arfsten was blunter: "Definitely frustrating."

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Columbus 57.4 percent, Nashville 42.6 percent.
• Shots: 8 apiece, but Nashville put 4 on target to Columbus' 2.
• Crosses: Columbus 0 completed out of 17 attempts.
• Clearances: Nashville 35, Columbus 15.
• Discipline: Nashville was booked five times and committed 12 fouls; Columbus had one yellow and four fouls.

What It Means

Nashville is 3-1-0 with 10 points after a 4-1 home win over New England, a 0-0 draw at FC Dallas, a 3-1 home win over Minnesota United and this. The club said it is unbeaten across all competitions, at 5W-0L-2D, and that this was its first win at Columbus since 2022. The all-time series now stands at 4-4-4, per the AP. Nashville is in the middle of five matches in 15 days, with a trip to Inter Miami for the second leg of a Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series, tied 0-0, on Wednesday before hosting Orlando City on Saturday.

Columbus falls to 0-2-2 with 2 points and is still looking for its first win after a 3-2 loss at Portland, a 2-2 draw at Sporting Kansas City and a 0-0 home draw with Chicago. The Crew visit Toronto FC next Saturday.

Closing Take

Rydström summed it up himself: "It looked quite good for maybe 70-75 minutes but not for 90 minutes. Right now, we get punished for it." That is the cruel math of a league that just hit 25,000 goals. Columbus did plenty right for most of the night, but Nashville only needed one second chance, and Mukhtar wrote his name into the record book with it.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional reporting from the AP via ESPN; club notes from Nashville SC (nashvillesc.com), the Crew (columbuscrew.com) and mlssoccer.com.