Manager Peter Vermes’ men relied on two goals from distance, a fortunate opener from Felipe Hernandez and a brilliant second from Graham Zusi, to earn their first 3 points away from home this season.
But they were thoroughly deserving of becoming the first winning visitor at the new 30,000-seat venue and the first club to beat the Coyotes anywhere in the Music City in 25 games, dating back to November 2020.
“I thought our start to this game was the key to the victory,” Zusi said afterward. “Of course, this game in particular, people say it’s a must-win game, but it’s all important. But this was a nice one to have on the road in a tough place to play. But again, I go back to the start we had. We seemed to control the tempo, in the first half especially.”
This isn’t a season-saving win. Sporting need more than three points to right their course.
Not only are Vermes’ men still 12th in the Western Conference on 16 points, they’re also the first side to hit the halfway point of 17 games. It would take two points per match in the second half to reach the 50-point threshold that usually guarantees an Audi MLS Cup Playoff spot.
Maybe though, in a campaign of endless bad fortune — with season-ending injuries to striker Alan Pulido and and midfielder Gadi Kinda keeping both contributors from even a minute of action — their luck started turning.
There was goalkeeper Joe Willis reacting late on Hernandez’s set-piece strike, presumably trying to account for a redirection that never came. That marked a second scored in as many games in Hernandez’s home town (the first coming in the USL Championship), with Dad and other family on hand for Father’s Day.
“I thought I put the ball in a good spot,” Hernandez said afterward. “You put a ball like that on frame, anything can happen. A little touch, a little skip and it went in.”
