Three games into the 2023 MLS season, Nashville SC are quietly proving to be an early contender.
Saturday night was just the latest example, as Nashville beat CF Montréal 2-0 at GEODIS Park to remain undefeated with a 2W-0L-1D record. They're one of three squads atop the Eastern Conference on seven points, along with Atlanta United and FC Cincinnati, pending New England Revolution's weekend-concluding match Sunday at LAFC (10:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
Even more impressive: they're perfect at home, with their Matchday 3 success filling head coach Gary Smith with optimism about topping last year's team.
Home form
If anything characterized Nashville's 2022 squad, it was their inconsistency playing at GEODIS Park, which debuted last May after the club left Nissan Stadium. Ironically, the latter had become something of a fortress in previous years, with the Boys in Gold posting 4W-1L-5D and 8W-0L-9D records during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, respectively.
They didn't immediately translate that level to their shiny new digs, posting a 6W-5L-6D home record last season after opening with eight matches on the road. Ultimately, the Coyotes missed out on home-field advantage in the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs and suffered a Round One elimination at the LA Galaxy.
So far, things appear to be different in 2023. First, Nashville breezed past New York City FC en route to a 2-0 Matchday 1 win. While less dominant, Saturday's result was arguably more valuable, as goals from Jacob Shaffelburg and Taylor Washington gave the fourth-year club a well-earned three points in front of their fans.
"There were factors in the offseason that we felt needed to be addressed," Smith said in his post-match press conference.
"One, of course, was to try to find a better balance, a better look and a more aggressive style at home, given that we dropped too many points here last year."
Digging deep
Given the fight Montréal put up before Washington's 89th-minute volley put the game away, this was arguably the type of result Nashville might have let slip away last season.
"This was never, ever gonna be easy and it wasn't a game I suspected we would dominate for long periods," Smith said.
"What I did feel we were capable and able to do in the end, was to find a couple of moments to make a difference, to dig in and roll our up sleeves under some pressure."
Up next for Nashville is a Matchday 4 visit to the Revolution on Saturday (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass). While the early returns have been good, Smith refuses to get ahead of himself.
"It's early on. Six to eight games in, let's have a look at where we are," the fourth-year coach said. "We'll see where the Eastern Conference settles out."
