With a playoff spot already secured, Nashville SC were able to come away with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against visiting Chicago Fire on Halloween 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 of our evaluation process.
- A rating of 6 denotes and 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 – 6.8: Unfortunate to get caught in no man’s land on the Chicago equalizer, but was brave a few times on some crosses.
Daniel Lovitz – 7.5: Another exceptional performance from Lovitz on the flank doing what he does best in defending and playing in dangerous crosses. We’re starting to sound like a broken record with him, aren’t we?
Dave Romney – 7: Romney’s only real hiccup was him getting caught flat-footed on the ball played through for Sekulic’s goal, which he did to try and draw him offside.
Walker Zimmerman – 7.5: Zimmerman was immense in his defensive efforts, logging an absurd 14 clearances.
Alistar Johnston – : There was some miscommunication amongst the backline on an offside trap, and Johnston kept Sekulic onside for his equalizer.
Anibal Godoy – 7: A much better performance from Godoy after a string of matches where he was trying to get back into form. He pressured the midfield well, and also helped string together some good linkup play.
Dax McCarty – 7: Part of the reason why Nashville is so successful in maintaining their shape off the ball is McCarty’s leadership in the midfield and ability to direct traffic.
Alex Muyl – 6.8: Had some quality chances early on in the match, including a volley that hit side netting and a header he just couldn’t keep down.
Randall Leal – 8: Leal once again proved to be Nashville’s most dangerous threat moving forward with his fearless dribbling. Served up a good ball in to the box from Zimmerman’s overhit cross that led to Daniel Rios’ goal.
Derrick Jones – 6.8: Not Jone’s best night, but not his worst either. He held up the ball well, but also wasn’t providing enough creativity through the middle.
Daniel Rios – 8: Rios was on the receiving end on what was a true poacher’s goal, being at the right place at the right time when Leal served up a followup cross that the Mexican International finished well with a header. He was also very good in his hold up play.
Subs
Abu Danladi – 5.8: Pretty quiet night from the sub, who couldn’t provide the same offensive quality as Jones, whom he replaced.
Jhonder Cadiz – 6.5: Good holdup play from Cadiz, but never could get a good look in front of goal.
Brian Anunga – 6.5: Anunga was brought on to try and congest the midfield a bit, an area that Chicago was exploiting for most of the second half.
Jalil Anibaba – 6: Brought on late as a defensive presence to help preserve the draw.
Manager
Gary Smith – 7: Conceding a late goal in the first half and losing all momentum in the second half might have caused some to buckle, but not a side as disciplined as Gary Smith’s side. The team absorbed Chicago’s pressure well in to the second half, keeping their shape off the ball. With the playoffs already secured for Nashville, there was no need to try and force three points. He made that clear with his tactics and substitutions.
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!
