MIAMI, Florida – Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge each had a goal and an assist to lead Nashville SC to a 3-0 victory at Moca FC of the Dominican Republic in the first leg of Round One of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup on Thursday night at the Estadio Cibao in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.
Nashville SC could not have asked for a better start, as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 12’ when star attacking midfielder Mukhtar polished off a one-two combination with Surridge by finishing past Moca GK Pascual Ramirez.
Hany Mukhtar scores Nashville's first goal in #ConcaChampions! ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/PNGIp33fyn
— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) February 23, 2024
The dynamic duo of Mukhtar and Surridge would hook up again to produce Nashville’s second score of the night, this time with Mukhtar filtering a pass into Surridge, whose right-footed shot beat Ramirez for a 2-0 lead in the 25’.
Moca started to threaten toward the end of the half and forced the Nashville defense into some nervy moments, none more so than in stoppage time when a Juan Angeles shot required a reaction save from Nashville GK Joe Willis.
Nashville SC reasserted their control in the second half and after several looks at goal in the second stanza, Tyler Boyd made it 3-0 after finishing off a one-two with Teal Bunbury in the 75’.
From there, the Nashville SC defense took over to sew things up, preventing Moca from pulling a goal back and giving the MLS side a very healthy advantage going into next week’s return leg.
