Jaziel Orozco of St. Louis City celebrates his goal during the first half against Nashville Saturday night at Energizer Park.Bill Barrett/ISI Photos via Getty Images

It was supposed to be a walk in the park for Nashville SC to keep pace in the MLS Supporters’ Shield race, but on a hot 80-degree Saturday evening at Energize Park. Instead, it was like two years ago for City SC in their first season in the Major League Soccer when they sat on top of the Western Conference. The team that sits second to last in the Western Conference upset Nashville 3-1, and while it didn’t improve their chances for a playoff spot, it bold well with City SC’s confidence and could spoil other teams’ chances playoff position going forward.

City fired off 5 shots on goal in the first half and took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by Jaziel Orozco and Joao Klauss. In the second half, newly acquired Sang-bin Jeong added a third in the 66th minute to give City a 3-0 lead. Hany Mukhtar for Nashville scored a penalty shot in the 85th minute to prevent his team from getting shut out for the second straight game in a row.

“Something we worked on in training all week, and even last week, was what’s the mentality like when we score a goal,” interim City SC coach David Critchley said. “Too often I’ve sat in this chair and we’ve started a game well, we’ve scored a goal, and we’ve had a little bit of passive behavior, and today wasn’t the case. So that shows massive growth in the team.  

Nashville outshot City SC 18-14, but had a 7-6 edge in shots on goal while pummeled goal keeper Joe Willis with five shots on goal in the first half. City’s next game will be on the road Saturday against Chicago Fire FC at 7:30 p.m. in SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.