Nashville SC put in its most dominant offensive performance inside Geodis Park with a 4-0 victory against FC Dallas Sunday night.
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 – 6.5: A relatively quiet night for Willis, who barely saw any action in front of his net. I’m sure he won’t complain with the picked up clean sheet.
Dan Lovitz – 8: Lovitz was an absolute maestro on the left flank moving forward, helping create the most chances for Nashville. He also did a great job limiting Paul Arriola to zero shots.
Shaq Moore – 7.8: Provided the initial ball to Sapong that set up Nashville’s first goal was really dynamic dribbling at the Dallas defense on the flanks.
Walker Zimmerman – 7.5: Only had one clearance, but won 67% of his aerial duels.
Dave Romney – 8.3: Romney’s insurance goal was icing on the cake, as he was fantastic in the backline with five clearances.
Dax McCarty – 7.3: McCarty continued his workhorse duties with a couple of tackles, eight recoveries, and won half of his duels.
Sean Davis– 7: Completed 85% of his passes and was picking out passes in the middle all night with three interceptions.
Jacob Shaffelburg – 8.3: Shaffelburg’s first start for Nashville could not have gone any better. Not only did he bag a goal, but he also brought a ton of offensive creativity and energy to a side desperate for a creator not named Hany Mukhtar.
Randall Leal – 7: Leal was also responsible for helping Nashville create several chances, including a shot from way outside the box that was inches away from being a certified banger.
CJ Sapong – 6.8: Was fantastic in the holdup play with winning long balls, and had the clever touch to Hany Mukhtar for his first goal. Speaking of…
Hany Mukhtar – 9.5: Mukhtar is inching closer to being the 15th player to have multiple MLS seasons with at least 10 goals and 10 assists. His screamer from an improbable angle and free kick goal last night brought his tally up to 16 goals on the season, and should cement his name in the MVP conversation the rest of the way.
SUBS
Alex Muyl (on 45′) – 6.5: Brought on at the half in place of Shaffelburg for defensive duties, registering a couple of tackles to his name.
Eric Miller (on 50′) – 6.8: Miller was subbed on after Moore picked up a knock and showed some discomfort, completing 85% of his passes and winning both of his duels.
Anibal Godoy (on 68′) – 6.3: Godoy seems to be close to returning to the starting 11 after his injury stint, completing 94% of his passes in his limited cameo.
Brian Anunga (on 84′) – 5.8: Brought on to lock up the midfield after the lead was 4-0.
Luke Haakenson (on 84’) – 5.5: Only had five touches in his limited amount of time near the end of the match.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 9.5: Smith really needed this win and in the fashion it came, otherwise the word “hot seat” might have been tossed around a bit over the coming weeks. Regardless, the side looked much more lethal on the offensive side, and continued to go at Dallas’ backline even after Mukhtar’s initial goal. The side finished with a 1.73, as opposed to Dallas’ .13, so it was complete domination from start to finish, and will give them some confidence as they continue to push for a 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.
