Player Ratings: Birmingham Legion 1-0 The Miami FCA critical win
We’re a tad late with this one but we are determined to get it done given that we haven’t done one in a while. So here goes:
GK: MATT VAN OEKEL – 7. MVO was credited with 2 saves in getting the clean sheet, but only one was anything more than routine. Fairly decent passing accuracy for once: 80% on 20 attempts.
LB: MOSES MENSAH – 7. A solid outing from Moses, who was mostly assigned as the more defensive of the two fullbacks. Even so, he managed a shot off target. In 79 minutes he racked up 35 passes, connecting on a very respectable 94.3%. He won all 3 of his duels and recorded 2 tackles and 1 clearance. He also created a scoring chance.
CB: JAKE RUFE – 7. Phanny was out and AJ was on the bench (possibly also not 100%) so Jake got the start at centerback. A really good showing: 61 of 64 passes connected. He won only 1 of 6 duels though, and was pressed into just 2 clearances and 1 interception.
CB: ALEX CROGNALE – 7. Alex was similarly rather untested by the near non-existent Miami attack. Good on 94.6% of 56 passes but no attacking contributions even on corners. 1 of 5 in duels and just 1 clearance.
RB: DEREK DODSON – 8. Derek was the key player in the Legion attack plan and played very deep. He put up a total of 61 passes, good on 86.9% of them. He launched 7 crosses, although only one was successful. Even so, he created 2 scoring chances. He was in 10 duels, winning only 4, and logged 3 tackles and 1 clearance.
LM: DIBA NWEGBO – 7. The Legion played a Christmas Tree formation so Diba and Dawson were effectively hybrid wingback/defensive mids. However, they both played pretty high. That being said, in 62 minutes Diba won 2 of 3 duels and made 1 tackle, 2 blocks and 1 interception. In attack he had 1 shot on target and 2 more blocked with 1 chance creation. Just 16 passes, completing 12 of them.
CM: KOBE HERNANDEZ-FOSTER –8. Kobe is the guy they have to get through to find the Legion box. In this case he only had 4 defensive actions – all duels, of which he won 2. He logged a massive 102 passes, finishing all but 7. As usual, he was the right-side corner taker, and ended up with 4 crosses, all unsuccessful. 1 shot off target and 3 scoring chances created.
RM: DAWSON MCCARTNEY – 8. Dawson started on the right but flipped to the left when Diba was subbed off. Most of his action was prior to that given the Legion’s preference for the right wing in this game. He was good on 35 of 39 passes and lobbed in 7 crosses (finding a target on 2 of them). He created 4 chances and had 4 shots – 2 off target and 2 blocked. He was also credited with the winning assist, a cross covering the entire width of the field.
LAM: RIDA ZOUHIR – 6.5. Rida has been less than impressive so far in Legion colors. This time around it didn’t help that he picked a first-half yellow. 86% passing on 50 attempts, and connected on 3 of 5 crosses. 1 shot off target and 1 chance created. Subbed off after 84 minutes.
RAM: ENZO MARTINEZ – 7.5. Enzo almost had the game won less than 10 minutes in, slamming the ball on the post. He had another huge scoring chance later that he also missed just barely. He picked up a late yellow for a tactical foul and was in the ref’s face even more than normal since he was wearing the armband.
FWD: TYLER PASHER – 8. Tyler played 84 minutes and managed a total of 4 shots, 1 on target, 2 off and 1 blocked. He was credited with creating 1 scoring chance and also attempted 1 cross. He logged 42 passes – a fairly high number for a striker – and completed 88.1% of them.
SUB: DARWIN MATHEUS – 8. Darwin (who apparently had been dealing with an in jury when he signed) finally got his first Legion appearance. He came on in the 62nd minute for Diba and was placed out on the right wing, with Dawson moving to the left. His first shot was blocked, but the second…ran away with Goal of the Week with 58% of the vote. Man of the Match off the bench and a big hope for the future if he can duplicate this.
SUB: STEFANO PINHO – 6. Stefano replaced Moses in the 79th minute in an obvious shift to ram it down Miami’s throat. However, he never took a shot and connected on 6 of 7 passes. That’s it.
SUB: MIGUEL PEREZ – 7. Miggy and Ramiz came in together, subbing for Tyler and Rida after 84 minutes n what seems a rather defensive move. Miggy had 1 shot blocked but was useful in defense, winning 1 of 2 duels and recording 1 tackle, 1 clearance and 1 block.
SUB: RAMIZ HAMOUDA – 7. Ramiz took 15 passes. He finished all of them. That’s all he had to do. Except…one of them was the hockey assist on the goal, feeding the ball to a wide open Dawson.
HC: TOMMY SOEHN – 7. Tommy’s initial game plan didn’t seem to be working well, but adjustments at half-time resulted in a much more aggressive performance in the second. That was good, but it took altogether too long to get the breakthrough.
