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Randall Leal, Jhonder Cadiz and Daniel Rios scored goals as Nashville SC took advantage of nearly every chance and a pair of friendly caroms to post a 3-0 win over visiting FC Dallas on Wednesday in an inter-conference matchup.
Joe Willis recorded two saves, both after halftime, to earn his league-leading eighth shutout of the season for Nashville SC and the 26th clean sheet of his 10-year MLS career.
Nashville has won two straight games and is 3-1-3 over its past seven matches. Nashville has two wins and a draw against FC Dallas in its inaugural season.
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Leal opened the scoring in the 19th minute, taking a pass from Derrick Jones and dribbling to a spot just outside the box. Leal spotted an opening and ripped a right-footed shot off Dallas defender Reto Ziegler and low and to the left of goalkeeper Jimmy Mauer. The shot found the far right corner of the net.
Dallas pressured throughout the second half, and nearly tied the game in the 67th minute when, on the 3-on-2 opportunity, Jesus Ferreira ripped a shot that landed on the outside of the net.
Cadiz then added to the Nashville lead in the 73rd minute when he bounced a shot from well outside the box off Dallas defender Matheus Bressanelli that handcuffed Maurer and spun into the goal. Daniel Lovitz was awarded an assist on the play after his pass to Cadiz.
Rios capped the scoring in the 88th minute when he took a pass from Leal, deked Ziegler to the ground with a series of moves near the goal mouth, and punched a shot past Maurer.
Nashville took advantage of its offensive opportunities, outshooting FC Dallas 12-11, including a 6-2 edge in shots on target. FC Dallas dominated the rest of the statistics, outpossessing Nashville 58 percent to 42 percent, outpassing the home side 518-384 and garnering better accuracy (85 percent to 80 percent).
FC Dallas has just one win in its past six matches.