Nashville SC kept their unblemished home record since the restart in tact, but conceded a late goal to draw 1-1 with Houston Dynamo Saturday afternoon.
Below are our player ratings for the match.
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 – 6.4: Willis was having an excellent day between the posts until he conceded the late equalizer on a poor punched clearance. He has to be better there.
Daniel Lovitz – 7.0: After the poor clearance, there was some serious miscommunication between Walker Zimmerman and Lovitz on marking the back post that led to the goal. Both must get better at marking.
Dave Romney – 7.3: At least Romney tried to closed down the cross after the failed clearance, but he was a little late heading to it.
Walker Zimmerman – 7.0: The unchecked marker by Zimmerman was surprising considering how good he is in the air. Definitely not his finest moment
Jalil Anibaba – 6.8: Anibaba got the start this match to give mainstay Alistar Johnston a bit of rest. Although he doesn’t offer the same type of crossing ability Johnston gives, he had a decent outing defending the flanks.
Dax McCarty – 7.2: McCarty has been playing heavy minutes since the restart (third most behind Zimmerman and Romney amongst outfield players), so a week’s worth of rest after this match will be well-deserved.
Brian Anunga – 7.0: Nothing flashy from Anunga. Came in, won some balls in the midfield and put pressure on Houston in the middle. He’s becoming quite the find for Gary Smith’s side coming in for relief for either McCarty or Godoy.
Alex Muyl – 6.3: Muyl just wasn’t producing enough offense in the first half. He made a decent run early in the match where Leal was looking for him on a cross, but not much after that. He came off at halftime, and walked back to the bench gingerly. May have picked up a knock that prompted the substitution.
Hany Muhktar – 7.3: Muhktar returned to his spot in the middle of the park and was unlucky for his ball to Leal to be called offside since it would have resulted in a penalty had it stood.
Randall Leal – 7: Was lively in his return to the starting 11, and should have drawn a penalty in the first half had he not been called offside.
Daniel Rios – 8.2: Should have actually scored twice in this match, as his first goal was questionably ruled offside by VAR.
His second half goal, however, stood firm, as he became Nashville’s first multi-goal scorer since arriving in MLS.
Rios unfortunately had to be pulled off shortly after his goal due to injury. He was able to walk off the field, and didn’t look too uncomfortable after the match. With a full week of rest before the trip to New England on Saturday, hopefully he’ll be able to recover.
Subs
Derrick Jones – 7.7: Jones, coming off a fantastic outing against DC United, made an instant impact on the match, setting up Daniel Rios’ goal after creating space from the ball he won near the penalty area.
Alistar Johnston – 7.2: Came in as a winger at first before moving back to his right back spot for defensive coverage. Was more than excellent in both roles and showed his versatility of being able to contribute on both sides of the field.
Anibal Godoy – 6.8: A straight like-for-like swap saw Godoy come on in relief for Anunga, who did his best to help McCarty prevent any Houston buildup.
Alan Winn – 6.8: Winn is starting to become quite the super sub for Smith, as he comes on and will take on defenders with tired legs. All that’s missing is the product in the final third.
Taylor Washington – 6.3: Another substitute that came on for defensive coverage late in the match to support Lovitz on the flanks.
Manager
Gary Smith – 7.3: With a fairly limited number of attacking options and on such a short week, perhaps a draw isn’t too harsh of a result. If there were more attacking options at his disposal, his substitution pattern might have been a bit different in trying to go for the second goal to secure the three points. Regardless, his side is still unbeaten at home since the restart. A week’s rest in between matches to heal up will certainly be ideal.
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!
