Hany Mukhtar Reaches 100 MLS Goals With Brace as Nashville SC Beat Toronto FC 2-0

It was Harry Potter Night at GEODIS Park, so of course the home side's resident wizard put on a show. Hany Mukhtar did not need a wand. He needed 43 minutes and two swings of his right foot.

Mukhtar scored twice in the first half, the second of them his 100th MLS goal, and Nashville SC beat Toronto FC 2-0 on Saturday night to stay 10 points clear in the Supporters' Shield race. Joe Willis, making his first appearance of the season, made three saves for the clean sheet.

Two Goals, One Magic Act

Nashville controlled the ball from the start, and the opener was a team goal in the purest sense. In the 16th minute, Elias Saad won a loose ball in the Toronto box and lofted it toward the far post, Cristian Espinoza nodded it back across the six-yard box, and Mukhtar volleyed it in from point-blank range. Per Nashville, it was Espinoza's 13th assist of the season, the most in MLS.

Toronto's best spell followed, and Willis was ready for it. He got down low to his left to keep out a Jonathan Osorio strike in the 22nd minute, a stop that, by the club's account, set off a "Joe says no" chant. Then he produced the save of the night in the 37th: a stop on Theo Corbeanu's curling effort from the right, followed immediately by another on Josh Sargent's follow-up from the middle of the box. Meanwhile, Luka Gavran was busy at the other end, saving from Jeisson Palacios, Saad and Espinoza.

Then, two minutes before halftime, Mukhtar did it himself. Sam Surridge laid the ball off to him at the edge of the box, and Mukhtar drove a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner. Gavran barely moved. Nashville took a 2-0 lead into the break and could have had more, with Surridge firing over and Mukhtar having a shot blocked in stoppage time.

Gavran Keeps It Honest

Toronto sent on Alonso Coello for Lewis Morgan at halftime and spent the first part of the second half throwing shots at a wall. Corbeanu, Jackson Gilman, Osorio and Matheus Pereira all had attempts blocked between the 52nd and 58th minutes, and Corbeanu fired high and wide in the 59th.

From there, it turned into a one-man resistance. Gavran saved three Surridge headers in the 64th, 66th and 69th minutes, with two Reed Baker-Whiting efforts in the 66th sandwiched in between. Nashville's own coverage called a couple of those stops jaw-dropping, and it is hard to disagree. He later denied Matthew Corcoran from distance in the 77th minute. Gavran finished with nine saves, and without them this would have been a rout.

Espinoza left with an injury in the 78th minute, replaced by Alex Muyl, and Surridge was booked in the 81st. Toronto never seriously threatened Willis again, and Nashville saw out five minutes of stoppage time without much fuss.

Mukhtar Joins the 100 Club

Mukhtar finished with five shots, two on target, and two goals, and the second one carried real history. MLS said it was his 100th MLS goal, 95 in the regular season and five in the playoffs, making him just the 16th player in league history to reach the mark. MLS added that he is the only active player besides Columbus Crew striker Josef Martínez to get there, and the first German-born player ever to do it. He is up to 13 goals and seven assists this season, seven of those goals since the World Cup break.

Willis deserves his own paragraph. With Brian Schwake and Xavier Valdez away on international duty, the 38-year-old, who has been with the club since its first MLS season in 2020, made his first appearance of 2026. He did not face many shots, but the club rightly singled out the 37th-minute double save as the moment the crowd lost its mind.

Surridge was a constant aerial threat with five shots, three on target, and an assist, and Corcoran and Edvard Tagseth ran the midfield. Per Nashville, the pair combined for 19 passes into the final third and created five chances. For Toronto, Gavran was the story, while Corbeanu and Dániel Sallói each managed three shots.

The Double Save at 1-0

The turning point came in the 37th minute. Toronto had finally strung together a decent spell, and a goal there would have changed the shape of the night. Instead, Willis made two saves in a matter of seconds, and six minutes later Mukhtar doubled the lead. Momentum swings both ways, and Willis made sure it swung toward Nashville.

The Numbers

• Shots: Nashville 23, Toronto 11. On target: Nashville 11, Toronto 3.
• Possession: Nashville 61.5 percent, Toronto 38.5 percent.
• Saves: Luka Gavran 9, Joe Willis 3.
• Box presence: Nashville had 44 touches in the opposition box to Toronto's 11, per the club.
• Corners: Nashville 9, Toronto 3.

What It Means

Nashville improved to 18-6-3 with 60 points and, per MLS, became the second-fastest team in league history to reach 60 points, doing it in 27 games. The club's notes add that it has 13 wins from 14 matches at GEODIS Park in 2026, is the only side in North America yet to lose at home, and has 13 MLS clean sheets. Nashville already clinched the first playoff berth of 2026 with a 3-0 win over Chicago the previous week, according to MLS, and it also avenged a 2-1 loss in Toronto on Sept. 9. Next up is a trip to Austin on Oct. 10.

Toronto fell to 6-11-10 with 29 points and has lost three straight. The visitors were short-handed, too: Nashville noted that three of Toronto's four usual starting defenders, along with former Nashville center back Walker Zimmerman, were missing from the squad amid international call-ups. Toronto hosts CF Montréal on Oct. 10.

The Chosen One

Every Harry Potter story needs a hero who keeps delivering when the stakes rise, and Nashville has had one for seven seasons. Mukhtar's 100th goal was not a fluke or a tap-in. It was a laser from the edge of the box on a night his team was chasing a trophy it has never won. The Supporters' Shield is not the Triwizard Cup, but in Music City, it might feel close.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Match notes as reported by Nashville SC (nashvillesc.com) and MLSsoccer.com.