Nashville SC stormed back after going down 2-0 (tell me if you’ve heard that one before) to preserve a 2-2 draw on the road 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 – 6: Was not great on his timing on trying to save the first goal, and saw his run of clean sheets come to an end. Did have a few key stops though to help keep Nashville in the match, but has to do better on the two he conceded.
Daniel Lovitz – 7.3: Lovitz was able to spring forward off Matt LaGrassa’s pass back to hit to set up Hany Mukhtar for the first goal. Lovitz is now 3rd in the league in key passes with 21 so far in the 2021 season.
Dave Romney – 6.5: Romney has to close down better on that first goal, as he gave up way too much space once the ball fell to Marecelino Moreno’s feet.
Walker Zimmerman – 6.3: Really misjudged the ball over the top that led to the opening goal, which is quite uncharacteristic of Zimmerman considering his outstanding aerial presence.
Alistar Johnston – 7: Put in some decent crosses, but no one could get on the end of them.
Dax McCarty – 6.5: Completed 92% of his passes, and also recovered well on a Josef Martinez break to prevent the star striker from creating a chance and virtually putting the game on ice. Did have some heavy touches though that resulted in the ball being lost.
Anibal Godoy – 7.5: Only won 40% of his duels in the midfield and completed 83% of his passes, but did have a few charging runs with the ball.
Alex Muyl – 6.3: Was called offside on the flicked-on header for Cadiz’s goal, which was the correct decision. M
Hany Mukhtar – 9: After a nonchalant showing early, Mukhtar sprung into action and had two excellent finishes to help Nashville claim their point on the road. The first touch on the first goal was exquisite, while he was in the right place at the right time for the equalizer.
Randall Leal – 7: Leal had a chance or two, but nothing that really threatened Brad Guzan. He leads the league in shots on target with 15.
Jhonder Cadiz – 7: Cadiz did have a goal called back, which was unfortunate. He also missed a bicycle kick in what would’ve potentially been a goal of the week had it converted. Other than that, Cadiz found himself out of position in the box a few times where he could not connect to the service provided.
SUBS
Dominique Badji – 6.3: Was created with the assist for Mukhtar’s second goal, even though it bounced off of him and into the path of Mukhtar for the equalizer on the initial shot. Regardless, Badji played most of his time on the pitch hurt, which was obvious by the way he was running around.
CJ Sapong – 7: Sapong brought a different dimension to the forward position after being introduced with his ability to dribble at defenders. Had a great chance on goal right before the two goals.
Matt LaGrassa – 7.8: Set up Lovitz’s assist on a well-timed 1-2, and also took the shot that deflected to the path of Mukhtar for the equalizer. A real difference-maker in every sense of the word off the bench.
Luke Haakenson – 7.3: Haakenson continues to be somewhat of a spark off the bench for Nashville, creating opportunities and winning balls in his side of the field.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 7.5: Smith didn’t seem like he had a ton of attacking options on the bench to try and spring a comeback, but LaGrassa and company proved to be just what Nashville needed to edge out Atlanta and claim a tough point on the road. The stats will also show a low percentage of possession compared to Atlanta but were only a couple of shots behind them. What direction will he go as far as the formation is concerned after the International break? That’s a question that will be answered soon.
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!
