How it happened
Nashville SC turned a narrow lead into a rout late on, scoring three times between the 67th and 91st minutes to win 4-1 at Austin FC.
Aidan Baker-Whiting's goal on 30 minutes was the only one of the first half, and Nashville led 1-0 at the break. Elias Saad doubled the lead on 67 minutes. Austin answered nine minutes later through Brandon Vázquez, which made it 2-1 with 14 minutes left.
The home side could not hold on. Sam Mohammed made it 3-1 on 88 minutes, and Hany Mukhtar added the fourth in the first minute of stoppage time. There were no red cards.
The numbers
The scoreline reflects the balance of play. Nashville had 24 shots to Austin's 11, with 11 on target against five, and 5.22 expected goals against 1.11. They also had 57% of possession and six corners to four.
Mukhtar finished with a match rating of 8.7, level with goalkeeper Brian Schwake, who made four saves. Mukhtar had five key passes and 64 touches, and his goal came from 1.84 expected goals. Saad, who played 69 minutes, had a rating of 8.3 and 1.16 expected goals.
Austin's Brad Stuver kept the margin down for longer than the shot count suggested. He made seven saves and earned a match rating of 8.3.
What it means
Nashville are first in the table on 63 points from 28 matches, with 19 wins and a goal difference of +35. Austin are 24th on 31 points, with a goal difference of -13.
Nashville's recent record is seven wins, two draws and one defeat from 10, and this result adds to a goals tally of 24 scored and eight conceded in that spell. Austin have won three of their last 10.
Of the five meetings between the clubs, Nashville have won three, Austin one, and one was drawn. This was the highest-scoring of them, with five goals against an average of 2.6 per game.