Nashville SC missed a golden opportunity to jump to as high as 2nd in the Eastern Conference, drawing 2-2 with Atlanta United Thursday.
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 – 5.8: Unfortunate for Willis that Atlanta’s only two shots on target were both goals. He was brave in picking and reading crosses and set pieces, though.Â
Dave Romney – 6.3:  Romney is not the aerial presence that Walker Zimmerman is, and it showed against Atlanta during the set pieces, as he was constantly having trouble winning balls in the air on set pieces.
Jalil Anibaba – 7.5:  Commanded the defense well in the back as the middle man. It also didn’t hurt that he was able to get open on a corner for Nashville’s opening goal.
Jack Maher – 6.3: A two-back system might work better for Maher, as he looked shaky on the right side in a 3ATB system with some mistimed tackles.  However, it’s a small sample size, and he’s a good enough player to adjust accordingly.
Daniel Lovitz – 7: Tied with Mukhtar in key passes with three, but also lost his mark on Atlanta’s equalizer.
Dax McCarty – 7: Led the side in tackles with three, working hard to distribute the ball up to the forward line.
Brian Anunga – 7.5: A true soldier in the middle, Anunga was a shark with a nose for the ball and also recovered well to prevent any Atlanta counters. He also showed his versatility by shifting to center back late in the match after Smith made his substitutions.
Alex Muyl – 5.8: A pretty forgettable performance by Muyl. Not only did he cause the foul on the set piece for Atlanta’s opening goal, but he also lost his man-mark on the same goal. His starting spot might be in jeopardy.
Hany Mukhtar – 8.5: There’s something about facing Atlanta that brings out the best in Mukhtar. Not only did he score the equalizing penalty and contribute the assist for Nashville’s first goal on a corner, but he also tied Lovitz for the most key passes in the match with three.
Randall Leal – 6.5: A quiet night for Leal by his standards. He had a chance at a shot outside the box in the second half, but elected to pass the ball instead.
CJ Sapong – 7: Sapong and Mukhtar were linking up incredibly well this match, as Mukhtar provided Sapong some outstanding passes and vice versa. Unfortunately, he was unable to capitalize on his chances. He did have a goal that was called back for being offside on the flicked-on header.
SUBS
Jhonder Cadiz – 6.3: Cadiz’s most noteworthy contribution was the through-ball to Leal that led to the red card to give Nashville the man advantage.
Abu Danladi – 6: Was only on the pitch for nine minutes plus added time, so did not have enough time to grow into the game.
Luke Haakenson – 6: Haakenson had a few heavy passes and wasn’t able to get as involved in the match as need be.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 6.3: Smith was quick to admit he probably waited too late to make his substitutions in a match where points were there for the taking. Despite missing three of his most important starters, he still put out a formation that was threatening on the offensive side, but quite vulnerable on set pieces.
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!
