The Boys in Gold rekindled their rivalry with FC Cincinnati over the weekend, but like many of their past results, this one ended in a draw, as they played to a 1-1 result Saturday.
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 – 7: A strong showing for Willis with three saves. Despite the conceded goal, Willis seems to have shook off the bad form that was cursing him over the past couple of previous games.
Dan Lovitz – 6.3: Hit 56% of his long balls and won half of his tackles. Didn’t record any duels, but did pick up a yellow card and will be out the next match due to his accumulation of yellow cards.
Jack Maher – 6.7: A so-so day for Maher, who lost all three ground duels but did provide some solid service out of the back (60% on his long balls).
Walker Zimmerman – 7.2: Had four clearances and won both of his duels on the ground, as well as caused the deflection that led to Nashville’s goal. Just another outstanding performance from one of Nashville’s MLS all-star representatives.
Dave Romney– 6.3: Romney returned to the starting lineup after a brief stint on the bench, logging six clearances and also provided the flick-on header on the corner which set up Nashville’s goal.
Dax McCarty – 5.8: Logged a key pass, but wasn’t at his best squaring up attackers, as he was dribbled by on three separate occasions.
Sean Davis– 6.3: Davis was busy in the middle, winning three tackles and logging four recoveries. Usually a sure thing in the passing department, Davis was only 74% on his passing, a surprise for someone who regularly logs his passes in the 85-100% accuracy range.
Alex Muyl – 5.8: Muyl completed all 22 of his passes, but, like Lovitz, picked up a yellow and will be forced to sit out to the next match due to yellow card accumulation throughout the season.
Randall Leal – 6.3: Two key passes for Leal, as well as a shot from distance, were Leal’s contributions for the match. With as good as he’s been playing, he seems due for a goal soon.
Teal Bunbury – 6.8: Right place, right time for Bunbury, who was quick to react with the overhead kick right on the goal line as the ball was deflected his direction. Other than his goal though, there wasn’t a whole lot from Mukhtar’s stand-in on the night.
CJ Sapong – 5.8: Sapong’s goal drought extends to nine matches now, but he was lively in the buildup play with his runs and when he was on the ball. Nashville fans will be hopeful that the drought doesn’t extend for too much longer.
SUBS
Eric Miller (on 70′) – 5.3: Only completed two passes and didn’t make an impact on the defensive side of the ball.
Luke Haakenson (on 71′) – 5.5: Won his only ground duel and completed 75% of his passes.
Brian Anunga (on 83’) – 5.2: Had a successful dribble past an opponent and had three recoveries to help solidify up the defense.
Taylor Washington (on 83′) – 5: Not a ton of action for Washington after his introduction, but he’ll have to step into the starting role with Lovitz unavailable for the next match.
Ethan Zubak (on 87′) – 5.3: Came on late and did not make a true impact on the match.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 5.5: The precautionary decision to withhold Hany Mukhtar after his minor knock more than likely threw Smith’s gameplan for a loop, but it’s also not like Nashville played bad in his absence. The problem, however, was they did not play great either (1.63 xG on eight total shots), just good enough to hold off Cincinnati for the draw. To recap, that’s four points against Seattle, LAFC, and Cincinnati on the road. A somewhat admirable tally, but every point down the stretch is going to count in a pretty crowded Western Conference as teams continue to jockey for their potential playoff spot.
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.
