The Columbus Crew’s regional woes continued Sunday night as the team fell to Nashville SC 3-1 on the road. A week after falling to Ohio rival FC Cincinnati and after losing midweek in U.S. Open Cup play to Pittsburgh Riverhounds, the Crew looked to be back on the right track after Yaw Yeboah rocketed a shot into the back of the net less than 90 seconds into the match. However, the Black & Gold’s jubilation only lasted so long, as the relentless Nashville attack finally broke through in the 56^th minute and Columbus had no second half response.

Set pieces once again spelled trouble for the Crew as both the first and second goals came off corner kicks that the visitors struggled to manage. And while Columbus pressed late for an equalizer, Nashville attacker Hany Mukhtar closed the door on the Crew with a late death blow that sent the Black & Gold back to Columbus empty handed.

Here’s how we evaluated the individual player performances for the Crew.

Starters

Patrick Schulte (6.5) – While letting in three goals is never an ideal situation for a goalkeeper, Sunday’s result was not a result of poor from Schulte. The 22-year-old goalkeeper finished the game with seven saves including a great save in the 70th minute to keep the game even. What needs to improve is Schulte’s positioning and ability to organize the backline on set pieces, as the Crew has struggled in recent weeks to deal with these plays effectively.

Steven Moreira (5.0) – Moreira was the most ball dominant of the Black & Gold’s backline with 64 touches, second most on the team, and put in solid work defensively. However, his defender on set pieces wasn’t enough to keep out goals. On Nashville’s first goal, Moreira got caught flat-footed on the goal line and was unable to challenge for the ball. On the second, Teal Bunbury muscled the defender out of position to give himself enough space to get a head to the ball.

Philip Quinton (5.0) – Quinton has continued to be exposed defensively and, despite how strong he started the season, he has not been able to keep up with top-level attacking talent in MLS. Particularly troublesome for Columbus was Quinton’s ineffectiveness in defending corners. The second goal was a clear case of the center back being second best to the incoming ball, mistiming his jump and mispositioning his body to allow Bunbury to get a free header on goal.

Gustavo Vallecilla (5.5) – Vallecilla played 65 minutes before being subbed off after picking up an injury. While he had four clearances, Vallecilla and the rest of the backline continually struggled to cope with the pressure from Nashville.

Mohamed Farsi (5.5) – Farsi contributed a tackle and an interception against Nashville but the Crew struggled to work through him on the wings effectively. He was also only able to complete 26 of 33 passes, not enough for what should be the right side of the Black & Gold’s attack.

Malte Amundsen (6.0) – Before his substitution in the 87^th minute, Amundsen played well enough. Defensively, the left wing back contributed a tackle, interception and three clearances while also pressing into the attack and contributing some key passes into the attacking third. However, Amundsen was second best to the ball on the equalizing goal, as he was late to find the run of Fabrice Picault and couldn’t body him away to prevent the attacker from scoring.

Darlington Nagbe (5.5) – Nagbe had one of his worst games of the season on Sunday. He only had 30 touches, the lowest of any starter, in his 84 minutes of play. His 100 percent passing accuracy was overshadowed by his mere 27 attempts, which is not enough for a team that has relied on his progressive play through the midfield into the attack.

Aidan Morris (7.0) – Morris was the anchor in the midfield for the Crew and did a lot of the dirty work defensively. While he got beat on Hany Mukhtar’s game-ending goal, that shouldn’t overshadow much of the hard work Morris did to keep the team in the game and provide the Black & Gold opportunities to score throughout the game.

Yaw Yeboah (7.0) – Yeboah’s goal was a terrific strike from distance and a well-deserved result for a player that is finding form. Yeboah continued to play positively in the attacking third throughout the match, combining with others to create several chances for the Crew to try and equalize late.

Lucas Zelarayán (7.0) – Zelarayán created chances and orchestrated the play through the midfield, connecting well with the rest of the Black & Gold attack. He had a team-leading nine crosses and finished the game with an Expected Assist total of 0.5, which was almost equivalent to what Mukhtar created for Nashville. Unfortunately, Columbus struggled to capitalize on those opportunities, and even Zelarayán, with an excellent chance in the fourth minute of first half stoppage time, squandered an excellent opportunity with a low-percentage shot from outside the penalty box.

Cucho Hernandez (7.0) – There is really no other way to look at Hernandez’s shot quality, shot quantity and all-around effort and not say that the Colombian has been supremely unlucky, not only against Nashville, but this season overall. He has only one goal this year on 35 shots, and while he has continued to improve since coming back from injury, at some point the goal scorer needs to find the back of the net to break his unlucky streak and help the Crew find the goals the team desperately needs.

Substitutes

Sean Zawadzki (6.0) – Subbed on due to Vallecilla’s injury, Zawadzki played out of position as a defender. He struggled and was unable to affect Nashville’s go-ahead goal. While he wasn’t individually to blame, Zawadzki’s performance underlines the severe depth issues the Black & Gold have without effective backups for their backline.

Jacen Russell-Rowe (6.0) – Despite coming on in the 84^th minute, Russell-Rowe only had four touches of the ball. Two of those touches were shots, both of which were great opportunities for Columbus late, but the forward has not shown that he can be a low-possession poacher consistently for the Crew and needs to find more ways to incorporate himself into the attack when he has the opportunity.

Christian Ramirez (6.0) – A late 87^th minute sub, Ramirez contributed a weak attempt in the fourth minute of stoppage time and was unable to find the equalizer for the Crew.

Head coach

Wilfred Nancy (4.5) – Nancy and the Crew are in a tumble. The team has one league win since April 8 and the Black & Gold are only three points above the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Columbus clearly has the attacking talent and a style of play to compete at the top level, but the team’s defensive shortcomings have doomed them lately. The Crew has also struggled to convert opportunities and has realistically also gotten a bit unlucky.