Nashville SC’s homecoming saw the Boys in Gold come away with a 1-1 draw against Philadelphia Union Sunday in their first match at Geodis Park.
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 – 7.3: The chants of “Joe says No!” were alive and well from The Backline, and with good reason as he had four saves on the day.
Dan Lovitz – 7.5: Led the way in key passes with three as Lovitz looked lively on the attacking front of the match.
Dave Romney – 7: Was excellent in his long ball attempts, completing 50% of them, and also won 89% of his aerial duels.
Walker Zimmerman – 7.3: A rare defensive mistake by Zimmerman as he did not pick up the long ball over the top to spring Mikael Uhre into a 1-on-1 situation with Willis, where he finished well to give the Union the lead.
Jack Maher – 7: Had the second-most clearances amongst the center back trio with three (Zimmerman had four) and the highest passing accuracy (88%) as well from the group.
Sean Davis – 8: Davis continues to be Nashville’s most consistent option in the midfield, completing 91% of his passes, far and away the highest percentage of any outfield player for Nashville.
Dax McCarty – 7.3: McCarty made his return back to the starting 11 as captain after a recent stint on the bench. His first shot was an absolute scorcher of a volley that ricocheted off the post mere minutes into the match. Also won a couple of tackles and 67% of his duels.
Alex Muyl – 6.5: Not too long after McCarty’s attempt, Muyl hit a screamer of a shot as well that hit the woodwork. Muyl picked up a yellow as well, but has really proven himself to be quite the option on the right wing.
Hany Mukhtar – 6.8: Mukhtar had only one shot on the day and logged a key pass as well. He completed half of his dribbling attempts past the Union defense and swung in 10 corner kicks.
Randall Leal – 7.5: Penalties have been a bit of an achillies heel for Nashville, but Leal finished his well when called to the spot for the equalizer and his first goal of the season.
CJ Sapong – 6: Sapong found it tough to get any touches (only 33) up top against Philly’s stout defense. He did find himself open on the back post a few times but never got the proper service.
SUBS
Ake Loba (on ′73) – 7: This was easily Loba’s best performance of the season off the bench, as he was quite lively in his runs and dribbling. Only one shot on the day, but this was certainly an encouraging sign for those waiting for Loba to break out.
Brian Anunga (on ′87) – 5.8: As usual, Anunga was brought on as the defensive anchor in the middle of the park to help see out the match.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 6.8: If it weren’t for Andre Blake’s stellar performance between the posts, Smith’s side could have easily come away with a victory here (their xG finished at 2.02), controlling the pace and showing some real crisp passing. At the moment, it’s hard to see Smith straying away from the 3-4-3 formation, especially now that the extended road trip is completed. However, with an Open Cup match looming against Atlanta United in addition to their other MLS fixtures, the schedule is about to get a little busy, so some rotation will be required.
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.
