Player Ratings: Detroit City 2-2 Birmingham Legion

In 7 games the Legion is now just 1-4-1 against Detroit City. All four points won against the Michiganders have been earned at Keyworth Stadium though. The broadcast team thought this was an entertaining game – or at least said it was (which is not the same thing at all). Frankly, it was messy on both sides and all four goals were the result of defensive miscues. That being said, the Three Sparks get some credit for coming back from behind twice.

GK: MATT VAN OEKEL – 6. MVO was credited with just 1 save in the game – the only save of the game in fact. A key stop – Ben Morris was in on goal behind the defense. On both Detroit goals he was effectively obstructed by Ethan Kos. Otherwise he was not really challenged. Passing accuracy of 45.5% was even worse than usual.

LB: RAMIZ HAMOUDA – 7. Ramiz was uninvolved in attack by and large but recorded 4 tackles, 8 clearances and 1 interception. He won an impressive 7 of 11 duels and had pretty good passing, finishing 31 of 41 attempts.

CB: ETHAN KOS – 5. As noted above, Ethan needs to be much more aware of where his keeper is. He was otherwise fairly effective: 4 clearances, 1 block and 1 interception. He won 3 of just 4 duels and was a decent 76.2% accurate on 21 passes. He also had a shot blocked.

CB: JAKE RUFE – 7. Playing at CB again Jake was pretty clean on the day. 2 tackles and 4 clearances to his credit as well as 8 of 11 duels won. 70.6% accuracy rate on 34 passes, but no attacking involvement.

RB: TIAGO SUAREZ – 8. In his first league action since 2022 (with Sacramento Republic) Tiago was very solid. He racked up 8 tackles and clearances, along with winning a whopping 16 of 19 duels. He connected on 24 of 32 passes and also got in a cross, albeit unsuccessfully.

DM: ENZO MARTINEZ – 7. Although his numbers don’t necessarily show it, Enzo was key to the defensive effort against the Detroit press. He logged 4 tackles and 1 interception and won 7 of 13 duels. Passing was poor at 54.3% accurate on 35 tries. He was responsible for 1 scoring chance.

LW: DAWSON MCCARTNEY – 6. Another Legion player with less than stellar stats this week. Dawson had 1 shot off target and 1 unsuccessful cross and he finished just 9 of 14 passes. Not what we have come to expect from him. He played just 45 minutes.

LM: ROMAN TORRES – 7. Roman is quickly becoming the Legion’s primary service provider. This weekend he had 1 shot off target himself and sent in 4 crosses, only 1 finding his man. He created 1 scoring chance and was a relatively good 787.3% accurate on 44 passing attempts.

RM: KOBE HERNANDEZ-FOSTER –8. Kobe was very much a two-way player in this game. Despite playing an advanced position, defensively he racked 5 tackles, 1 clearance, 2 blocks and 1 interception. In attack he had 2 shots blocked, sent in 8 crosses (only 1 good though) and got the assist on Ronaldo’s goal. He created one additional chance as well. Man of the Match honors go his way.

RW: PRESTON TABORT ETAKA – 7. Preston was stymied by the Detroit defense all game. He generated just 1 shot and 1 cross, neither successful and was good on 12 of a mere 18 passes.

FWD: RONALDO DAMUS – 7. It wan not by an y stretch of the imagination a pretty goal but that’s his second in 2 straight games. What he was hired to do after all. It was however his only short of the game.

SUB: MOSES MENSAH – 5. Moses came on for Dawson at the half in a surprise move given the Legion were down a goal at the time. 1 clearance and 2 of 3 duels won. 1 unsuccessful cross and good on 15 of 19 passes.

SUB: SEBASTIAN TREGARTHEN – 6.5. Sebastian entered the game in the 70^th minute in relief of Ethan Kos. It took him just 6 minutes of professional playing time to get a yellow card. 1 tackle, 2 clearances and 5 of 9 duels won. He showed some glimpses of what we can expect from him going forward.

SUB: FINN CALLOWAY – N/A. Finn entered the game with just 2 minutes remaining to cover for Preston who was forced out by a injury. No contributions to speak of.

HC: TOMMY SOEHN – 6. The 4-1-4-1 is about the best option for this squad but Tommy has to get his team to play a complete game, which they have not yet done this season. At some point in every game the Legion goes flat and also makes some stupid defensive errors. Still a lot to fix here.