The unbeaten run ended on the south stand's watch
Austin FC 1–4 Nashville SC at Q2 Stadium, and the eight-match unbeaten streak is gone (1) (3). Four different Nashville players scored (3). Hany Mukhtar scored in the 91st minute (1). That is how you finish a game you have already won, and it is the detail that should bother Austin most.
Arnaud said the right thing, then the defence said the opposite
Davy Arnaud spent the week telling anyone listening that his side were up for any challenge (4). "There is not an easy game in this league," the interim head coach said (4). Sensible, and true. Then Nashville arrived, and the shape fell apart in the late going. An eight-match run does not happen by accident, but neither does a 1–4 at home against the Supporters' Shield leaders (2). One clean sheet in the last five league matches, and 15 goals conceded on the season across 28 played, 13th of 15 in the West on 31 points. The underlying numbers were always worse than the unbeaten run suggested.
Brad Stuver had no help, and neither did Schwake's opposite number
Nashville handed rookie Brian Schwake a win on his road debut and backed him with four goals (3). Brad Stuver got the other end of that deal. When your goalkeeper is the story in a four-goal home defeat, the problem is twenty yards in front of him.
What to watch
LAFC away on Thursday, then Vancouver Whitecaps at home on Oct 18 (MLS). Nashville showed what a top-four side does when it smells blood. LAFC will do the same. Fifteen days left in the regular season and one point from the four games before that collapse. The response in Los Angeles is the whole read on this group.
