The Columbus Crew ran their unbeaten home run to 14 matches across all competitions, but were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw on Wednesday night despite bossing the second half against Nashville SC at Lower.com Field.
Joe Willis made six saves to preserve his sixth clean sheet of the season for the visitors, who had some bright moments early before going on the back foot after the interval.
Willis' best stop came just inside the final 20 minutes when he sprawled wide to his right to deny Darlington Nagbe's low, deflected effort. That was as close as Columbus came to halting what is now Nashville's six-match unbeaten run.
Kevin Molino also missed wide on an excellent chance in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, and Lucas Zelarayan's attempt from a promising spot just outside the six-yard box was blocked moments before the final whistle.
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: It was a frustrating evening for the majority of those who came to downtown Columbus, but this might be a case of a market correction for the Crew. Columbus have outperformed their expected goals (xG) totals for most of this season. On Wednesday, they settled for a point despite holding an xG lead of 1.4-0.5 over Nashville.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: It looked for a moment like Molino had in fact sealed all three points for the Crew when he reached Pedro Santos' cross near the penalty spot and sent a crisp, first-time effort toward the left post. In the end, it rolled narrowly on the wrong side of the woodwork for the hosts.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Joe Willis. Center back Dave Romney was in the conversation for the opening 70 minutes or so, as Columbus failed to turn much of their possession into clear chances. That changed in a dramatic way late, however, and Willis was up to it, including on his deceptively acrobatic denial of Nagbe.
Up Next
- CLB: Saturday, July 24 at Atlanta United (3:30 pm ET | ABC, ESPN Deportes, MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada)
- NSH: Saturday, July 24 vs. FC Cincinnati (8:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in the US and DAZN in Canada)
