The short-handed Boys in Gold picked up a tough point on the road against Columbus Crew Wednesday, drawing the defending MLS Cup Champions 0-0.
Below are our player ratings.
Each member of the Speedway Soccer crew gives each player that saw the pitch a rating based on their match performance. Below is a quick guideline for our evaluation process.
- A rating of 6 denotes an average performance. Each player starts out with a 6 and their performance either adds or subtracts from that rating.
- Scores are determined after re-watching the match and looking at the stats, and are the averaged total of each Speedway member’s ratings.
Joe Willis – 8.7: A wonderful showing by Willis, recording seven saves to help Nashville grind out their hard-earned point. His positioning on every Columbus chance was spot on, and he even had a few spectacular finger-tip stops.
Dave Romney – 7.5:  Romney’s aerial ability has really improved over the past couple of weeks. An area that’s much needed considering the absence of Walker Zimmerman.
Jalil Anibaba – 7.7:  Anibaba continues to provide the much-needed leadership in the middle without Zimmerman.
Eric Miller – 7.5:   It’s been a minute since we’ve seen Miller, but he put in a great shift, winning a team-high 83% of his duels.
Taylor Washington – 7: With Lovitz out due to health protocol, Washington stepped up in relief. Although he doesn’t offer the same threat of creative chances as Lovitz, he was still a stalwart in the back.
Dax McCarty – 8.2: McCarty played a hybrid role as a middle center back and deep-lying 6. He played very well in that role and cause plenty of disruption of the Columbus attack.
Brian Anunga – 7.8: Meanwhile, Anunga played equally as well in the middle of the park with a couple of tackles registered to his name.
Matt LaGrassa – 6: LaGrassa on the ball was a bit of a liability and his passes were off-target a bit.
Hany Mukhtar – 7: Mukhtar came back down to earth after his hattrick performance against Chicago, but still put in a good shift as Nashville’s most threatening offensive player with a few quality chances.
Alex Muyl – 6: Muyl had some wasted opportunities, including a shot he skyed in the first half that was his lone chance.
CJ Sapong – 6.6: Led the side in shots with three, and had some decent dribbling. The magical link-up with Mukhtar just wasn’t there like it was against Chicago.
SUBS
Randall Leal – 6.2: Leal did not have any real chances, but he still continues to be tied for first in MLS in shots on target with 21.
Jhonder Cadiz – 6:  Cadiz had a fantastic through ball to Leal during his time on the pitch. The jury is still out on him, and by jury, I mostly mean the Nashville SC Fans Facebook group.
Ake Loba – 6.3: Loba made his Nashville debut and pressed really well in his limited minutes, almost forcing Room into a mistake on the ball while he was way outside the box.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 8.2: Some draws feel like wins, others like losses. Considering Smith was short-handed, missing several starters and on the road against a dangerous Crew side, this draw was definitely a win for him. The lineup he presented certainly raised some eyebrows, but it was clear they were going to batten down the hatches and just get out of dodge to prepare for their final weekend home match in quite some time against FC Cincinnati.
What say you? Do you agree or disagree with our match ratings? Feel free to reach out to us on Twitter and let us know your thoughts!
