A full half without a shot
Zero. That was New York City FC’s shot count in the second half. Not a strike, not a dangerous cross, nothing. And they still walked off with a point against Nashville SC in a 0-0 draw they never looked like winning.
Matt Freese made two saves. Two. That was enough. Nashville put up 13 attempts and never hit the target when it counted. The New York defense handled the rest with legs, feet and shins.
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Surridge had four looks and buried none of them
The first came in the 9th minute, a header over the bar. Two more arrived inside the opening four minutes of the second half. Then another header in the 62nd.
Hany Mukhtar tried his luck too. A shot from the right side of the box in the 79th, blocked by Andres Perea. Another in the 84th, blocked again. In between, Raul Gustavo shut down Abdul Shakur Mohammed. The pattern held all night until it started to feel inevitable.
Nashville held the ball for close to 55 percent of the match. Brian Schwake, their keeper, had a single save to make, from an Agustin Ojeda effort in the 15th. Freese had already turned away Elias Saad six minutes earlier. That was more or less the full extent of what New York created.
Five blanks in a season, and the playoffs are coming
The four-game winning run is gone. Nashville remain unbeaten in six, four wins and two draws, and stay top with 53 points from 23 matches. Sixteen wins, two defeats, five draws still puts daylight between them and the field.
The nagging part is elsewhere. This was the fifth time this season Nashville have failed to score. For a team bossing the regular season it barely registers. In a playoff bracket, where one flat evening ends the year, it is the sort of number people will keep circling back to in October.
New York City keep collecting draws instead of wins. Three straight now. Twenty-nine points from 23 games, seven wins against eight defeats and eight draws, a club taking something from most nights without convincing anyone. A half without a single shot is not a plan.
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