Nashville SC falls to Philadelphia Union, loses sixth straight game

Nashville SC won't play its next game for a week and a half, and won't play its next MLS game until Aug. 24. The break couldn't have come soon enough.

Nashville (6-11-8, 26 points) lost to the Philadelphia Union, 3-0, Saturday in Chester, Pennsylvania. Hungarian international Dániel Gazdag's hat trick handed NSC its sixth straight loss, extending a franchise-record losing streak that began against Inter Miami on June 29.

Incoming coach B.J. Callaghan , who starts with Nashville on Monday, will have plenty of work to do before NSC's Leagues Cup opener against Mazatlán on July 31.

Philadelphia scores twice in the first half

While Gazdag is one of MLS's top goalscorers, with 11 coming into Saturday, Nashville made things very easy for him.

Gazdag scored both first-half goals for the Union (6-10-9, 27 points), both of them coming from the left side of the penalty box in an almost identical manner. In the 10th minute, he chipped the ball over Joe Willis, with Shaq Moore's poor positioning allowing him to remain onside. Moore tried and failed to play another offside trap in the 38th minute, and Gazdag, just barely standing in legal position, deposited Mikael Uhre's pass into the back of the net.

Nashville shows signs of life in second half

Nashville looked like the more aggressive side after halftime, creating a large number of half-chances and occasionally more than that.

Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake tipped away a dangerous cross by Jacob Shaffelburg 10 minutes after halftime, sending it just beyond the feet of both Brent Kallman and Forster Ajago. 10 minutes later, Kallman hit the top crossbar on a header off a Hany Mukhtar corner kick. Blake once again stood on his head in the 85th minute to save a shot from Teal Bunbury, created via a one-two passing move with Mukhtar.

Just before stoppage time, Kallman slipped in possession in front of the goal, and Gazdag recovered the loose ball and finished off his hat trick.

"I thought that we grew into the game, and I think created some good chances to get back into the game and were unlucky with some of our shots and hitting the post and different things like that," interim coach Rumba Munthali said. "Really feel bad for the way that we conceded the last goal with somebody slipping."

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Rumba Munthali's final game as Nashville SC interim coach

Munthali, who was Nashville's player development coach under Gary Smith, finishes his time as interim coach with a record of 3-7-3. He will remain on staff under Callaghan.

"It is an educational experience," Munthali said. "... The whole experience, in totality, I think there were some positive things to take from. Some of the attacking sequences and things that are starting to come to light and guys starting to feel comfortable on the ball, I think it's a great step into our evolution."

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC falls to Philadelphia Union, loses sixth straight game