New England & Nashville SC play to scoreless draw in 2025 MLS season opener

FOXBOROUGH, MA– New England Revolution (0-1-0, 1 pts) & Nashville SC (0-1-0, 1 pts) were held to a 0-0 draw on Saturday night.

The match kicked off at 8:30 p.m. ET at Geodis Park to a crowd of 20,000.

New England starting lineup: 4-2-3-1 | Aljaž Ivačič, Ilay Feingold, Brayan Ceballos, Mamadou Fofana, Brandon Bye, Alhassan Yusuf, Jackson Yueill, Carles Gil (C), Luca Langoni, Ignatius Ganago, Leonardo Campana

New England substitutes:| Alex Bono, Wyatt Omsberg, Tanner Beason, Andrew Farrell, Noel Buck, Eric Klein, Jack Panayotou, Luis Diaz, Maxi Urruti

Nashville SC starting lineup: 4-2-2-2 | Joe Willis, Andy Najar, Walker Zimmerman (C), Jack Maher, Daniel Lovitz, Matthew Corcoran, Wyatt Meyer, Edvard Tagseth, Alex Muyl, Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge

Nashville SC substitutes:| Brian Schwake, Jeisson Palacios, Teal Bunbury, Jack Bauer, Taylor Washington, Jonathan Pérez, Ahmed Qasem, Ethan O’Brien, Adem Sipić

The match kicked off with New England starting from the center circle and building out of the back to begin the match.

Nashville had the first chance of the match entering the 7th minute when forward Sam Surridge’s effort was deflected away and out for a corner kick by defender Brandon Bye.

The next chance for Nashville’s came in the 18th minute when Sam Surridge’s header forced an Aljaž Ivačič save out for a corner kick.

Nashville had yet another chance in the 22nd minute when Jack Maher’s effort went just wide of the right post.

New England’s first chance came entering the 25th minute when Ignatius Ganago’s effort was tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Joe Willis.

The next chance for New England came in the 35th minute when Leo Campana missed from close range.

Less than 30 seconds later, Revolution defender Mamadou Fofana was issued a yellow card for thwarting a Nashville SC counterattack.

After 45 minutes, the match entered halftime with the scoreline level at 0-0.

The second half kicked off with Nashville SC starting from the center circle and building out of the back to start the second half.

New England had the first chance of the second half when Carles Gil almost connected with Jackson Yueill in the 48th minute as the ball trickled through the goal mouth but no Revolution player was there to hit the follow up.

In the 64th minute, Nashville SC midfielder Matthew Corcoran was issued a yellow card for a foul on Revolution midfielder Carles Gil.

Less than one minute later, Revolution midfielder Jackson Yueill was issued a yellow card for a tactical foul on Nashville midfielder Hany Mukhtar.

Entering the 67th minute, Nashville thought that they’d gained the lead after Sam Surridge headed home a cross by Hany Mukhtar, however, Mukhtar was offsides in the build-up.

In the 75th minute, both teams made changes. Revolution Head Coach Caleb Porter made his first change of the match by replacing Luca Langoni with Luis Diaz. Nashville SC Head Coach BJ Callaghan made his first change of the match by replacing Alex Muyl with Ahmed Qasem.

Less than 2 minutes later, Nashville SC had the next chance of the match when Sam Surridge’s header was met with a catch save by Aljaž Ivačič.

Nashville had yet another chance in the 83rd minute when Hany Mukhtar’s effort went just wide of the left post.

Less than 30 seconds later, Revolution defender Mamadou Fofana made a crucial block on a shot by Sam Surridge to give Nashville a corner kick.

Entering the 87th minute, New England thought they had taken the lead after a goal by Mamadou Fofana; however, the defender was clearly offsides.

In the 89th minute, Nashville SC Head Coach BJ Callaghan replaced Edvard Tagseth with Jonathan Pérez.

After the 90+3 minutes, the match concluded in a 0-0 draw.

The New England Revolution (0-1-0, 1 pts.) will return home to face Eastern Conference side Columbus Crew (1-0-0, 3 pts). The match is set to kickoff at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, March 1st at 7:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.

(Editor’s Note: For more of Burt Granofsky’s photos, click on the link)