The ‘Yotes trip up to the Big Apple turned out to be more than they could chew on, losing 2-1 to NYCFC Saturday 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 – 7.3: Willis has been solid between the posts in his last few matches, and it’s a shame he was let down by some questionable man-marking by his teammates that allowed for the two NYCFC goals to be scored. He still had four excellent saves though to help limit the damage.
Dan Lovitz – 6.8: Lovitz had two good attacking chances late in the match, both which resulted in goals (only one of those goals which counted, however.)
Jack Maher – 5.3: Completed 92% of his passes, but had a hard time against the NYCFC front line, logging no clearances.
Walker Zimmerman – 8.3: Only one clearance for Zimmerman on the match, but did hit a pass that sprung Lovitz into the final third that led to Nashville’s lone goal.
Shaq Moore – 5: Didn’t pick up his man mark in the middle of the box from the cross in, allowing for the opening goal. Not a great defensive day, as well as had a disallowed goal called on him late in the match.
Alex Muyl – 6.3: Missed all three of his cross attempts and only completed two-of-five tackles. Also got nutmegged on the play that led to NYCFC’s first goal.
Anibal Godoy – 5.3: Seemed like he was looking for a foul on the set piece in which he allowed his man mark a volley in the box that finished well, but the reality is that Godoy has to do better on the set piece defending in that scenario.
Sean Davis – 5.8: Only won 20% of his ground duels, which is not a good sign as it seemed he couldn’t do anything in the middle to combat with NYCFC’s midfield.
Fafà Picault – 6.3: Had a long-range effort that tested Luis Barraza and made some solid runs with the ball at his feet, but was withdrawn at the half.
Hany Mukhtar – 7.3: Had some really dangerous runs at the defense with the ball at his feet throughout the match, and was finally rewarded with a goal as he hammered home a low bullet from Lovitz’s cross into the bottom left corner after taking a touch.
CJ Sapong – 5.3: Sapong had two shots on the day, but only one was on target. Although the other one was blocked, his inefficiency in front of goal is becoming an issue, as we inch closer and closer to the anniversary of when Sapong last scored an MLS goal.
Substitutes
Jacob Shaffelburg – 6.3: Shaffelburg brought some energy off the bench with his introduction, with three passes into the final third during his 45 minutes of play in the second half. His crossing will need to improve, however, as he only completed 20% of them.
Teal Bunbury – 5.3: Won all three of his aerial duels, but was ineffective with his passing at 50%.
Dax McCarty – 6: Kept the NYCFC defense honest with some of his long balls that helped Nashville’s front line make a late charge.
Jan Gregus – 5.5: Only had 14 touches, but completed 86% of his passes.
Manager
Gary Smith – 6.3: Another ho-hum and underwhelming performance from Smith’s side, but this time, there was no point earned at all. A lethargic first half (0.36 xG in the half) set the tone, and going down 2-0 within the first 30 minutes as well didn’t help their cause. Of course, the narrative has been the lack of attacking options off the bench that could make a difference, and that was once again apparent.
Will this also be apparent in Nashville’s home match Saturday against reigning MLS Cup champions LAFC? It’s certainly possible, but the Boys in Gold always seem to pull out a victory when they’re least expected to.
