Better late than never, but Nashville SC picked up its first three points on the road this MLS campaign with a 2-0 victory against Atlanta United 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 – 8.8: It’s not every day you see a goalkeeper contribute an assist, but Willis had great awareness to send a punt forward to Leal after Brad Guzan was caught high up the pitch trying to help contribute for the equalizer. The clean sheet also didn’t hurt.
Dave Romney – 7.3: Won 50% of his duels and kept Josef Martinez quiet for some spells.
Walker Zimmerman – 7.2: Had the highest pass completion of all the center backs at 87% and asserted himself in the air like always.
Alistar Johnston – 6.8: Johnston slid over to the RCB position that he’s familiar with during his International duty over this summer with Canada. Although his crossing from the flank is missed, he put in a decent effort in his new(ish) role.
Daniel Lovitz – 8: Named to the MLS team of the week for his outstanding defensive contributions and one-touch assist to spring Daniel Rios into space for the goal right before the half.
Taylor Washington – 6.8: A few good runs from Washington on the flanks, but nothing too noteworthy.
Brian Anunga – 6.7: Not his best match, but still put in a decent shift of winning the ball off the opposition.
Anibal Godoy – 8: A gritty performance from Godoy with four tackles to lead the side, it’s almost like you want to put a spin on the now infamous Roy Kent chant for Godoy #Heseveryeffingwhere.
Hany Mukhtar – 7.2: Had a 94% passing accuracy and a really good chance on target with a header that ended up going straight to Guzan.
Daniel Rios – 7.7: Rios was clinical in his finish right before the half, and rewarded Gary Smith for being so patient during the Mexican International’s injury stint. We could see him playing a big role down the stretch.
CJ Sapong – 7: Led the side in key passes with four and was instrumental in the buildup play holding the ball up while his teammates made runs.
SUBS
Randall Leal – 7.5: Scored the open-netter on a great run up the field to seal the away victory.
Ake Loba – 5.8:  Completed all of his passes during his 10-minute cameo. Fans are still curious about when they’ll see another Loba start, but they’ll have to be patient.
Alex Muyl – 6: Only had one minute of play plus stoppage.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 9: The first away points of the season came at a crucial time. Smith decided to change the formation up a bit personnel-wise to combat some of Atlanta’s speed and it paid dividends. Now, Nashville are potentially projected to finish 4th in the East.
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!
