It was raining cats and dogs (and goals) at Geodis Park Saturday night, but Nashville SC and Atlanta United were able to weather the three-hour delay and play to a 2-2 draw.
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 – 4.3: Another match where Joe Willis was careless, this time with an errant pass out of the back, and it contributed to costing Nashville SC an opportunity at three points. He certainly doesn’t have much leeway at the moment with these recent performances, but he’s also Nashville’s only true option between the sticks at the moment.
Dan Lovitz – 6.5: The two-way wingback was busy on both ends of the pitch, winning both of his duels and logging a key pass. However, he got caught ball-watching on the ball over the top that led to Atlanta’s equalizer.
Dave Romney – 6: Romney had a blocked shot and a clearance to his name, but logged zero tackles.
Walker Zimmerman – 6.3: Only logged three clearances but did win over half of his ground duels and aerial duels.
Eric Miller – 6: Played 19 minutes until he was withdrawn after the rain delay due to a potential injury.
Brain Anunga – 7.5: Anunga’s run of form has made it really tough to unseat him from his current role in the starting 11, as he continues to win battles in the midfield and make recoveries on the ball when Nashville are on the backfoot.
Sean Davis – 7: Completed all of his dribbles past opponents and all three of his long balls from the midfield. Also had a great look at goal in the second half with a volley off a corner.
Alex Muyl – 7.3: Muyl continues to improve on the offensive side of the ball, logging three key passes and completing 67% of his crosses.
Hany Mukhtar – 8.3: Mukhtar and Sapong combined for two goals and two assists, with the DP delivering a low cross to Sapong across the box, which he hammered home. With five total shots and a 91% passing accuracy, it’s still Mukhtar’s offense that he dictates.
Anibal Godoy – 6: Godoy returned to the starting 11 after his recent injury stint and didn’t look like he missed a beat, completing 96% of his passes. He did allow opponents to dribble past him a few times though, but a positive sign that’s basically back to close to full fitness as he was able to log at least 60 minutes of playtime.
CJ Sapong – 9: Sapong has been on an absolute tear recently with his holdup play and ability to create chances linking up with Mukhtar. The question isn’t about his talent, but can he keep up this high level of play consistently.
SUBS
Jack Maher (on ′19) – 7: Came on for Miller after he was taken off. His cross to Sapong on the second was brilliant, but got beat on the back post run by Dom Dwyer for the equalizer.
Dax McCarty (on ′62) – 6.5:  Played an excellent through ball to Sapong in the second half that could’ve easily killed the game off had Sapong collected it well.
Ake Loba (on ′80) – 6.5: Completed all five off his passes and his one dribble past an opponent. Fans will hope to see Loba in the starting 11 against Louisville.
Ethan Zubak (on ’80) – 5.8:  Had one key pass, but also picked up a yellow card in his limited minutes.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 7: Smith’s side was easily the better one on the night while rolling out three central midfielders, but in the end, there’s only one stat that matters: the score. Having such strength in the middle of the park he does right now with the emergence of Brian Anunga will only benefit this side as they continue to see their fixture list potentially grow with Open Cup play.
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.
