Nashville SC beat Atlanta United 2-0 in a Heineken Rivalry Week showdown at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday afternoon, thanks to a goal by Daniel Rios on the stroke of halftime and an insurance goal by Randall Leal seconds before the final whistle on an open Atlanta net.

Nashville entered the game having lost twice and drew five times away from Nissan Stadium, but came away with three points, breaking Atlanta's four-match winning run and ruining Gonzalo Pineda's management debut. Despite a few promising possession spells for Atlanta, Nashville scored two late goals. The first occurred in the 43rd minute when a diving Brad Guzan saved a bouncing Hany Mukhtar header, and the second came in the 45th minute when Rios' effort inside the box flew just wide.

Nashville's go-ahead goal came in first-half stoppage time when Rios made up for his earlier error by blasting past Guzan to make it a 1-0 game right before the break.

Atlanta came close to tying the game in the 54th minute when Luiz Araujo appeared to finish a great solo move with his first MLS goal, but Joe Willis denied the Brazilian winger. That was one of Atlanta's two attempts on goal, the other coming from a free kick in the first half. Josef Martinez, who arrived late, grazed the outside of the post.

When Alistair Johnston fouled George Bello in the sixth minute, Atlanta felt they had a penalty kick. However, following Video Review, the infringement was determined to have happened on the perimeter of the 18-yard box, depriving the Five Stripes of the opportunity to test Willis from the spot.

In the 95th minute, Leal would secure Nashville's victory by depositing into an open net following Willis' precise punt upfield, giving Nashville a three-game winning streak.

[Photography by ICONIC photographer Rachel Pearce]