Player Ratings: Birmingham Legion 1(4)-1(3) Chattanooga FC

The Three Sparks are now 2-0-0 in Tuscaloosa. Just saying.

While you chew on that, here are our player ratings for the game:

GK: TREVOR SPANGENBERG – 9. Make it three straight Man of the Match awards for Trevor. Admittedly, he made just 1 save in regulation time, and could have spared everybody a lot of anxiety by making his one PK save in said regulation time, but hey, he came up big when it counted.

LB: MOSES MENSAH –7. Moses got the start over Gabriel in thine one, and he was yanked with 4 minutes left in extra time in order to get Tyler Pasher on the pitch for the shootout. A pretty good showing too: 82% accurate on 50 passes, including 2 of 5 crosses. 12 of 20 in duels, 3 tackles, 1 clearance and 7 recoveries.

CB: BEN REVENO – 7. Ben played all 120 minutes, starting at left centerback and migrating to right back for extra time. Good on 47 of 57 passes and even got a shot in, although off target. 2 tackles, 1 block, 2 clearances and 8 recoveries. Solid performance.

CB: ALEX CROGNALE – 7. It’s tempting to ding Alex for the PK, but that was an incredibly soft call. Otherwise, he was his usual reliable self. 77% completion rate on 75 passes, 2 shots – both on frame – 6 for 10 in duels, 2 blocks, 3 clearances, 4 interceptions and 7 recoveries.

RB: COLLIN SMITH – 7. Have we mentioned Collin is a wingback? He started at right back and was pushed up to right wing when Prosper left the game. He should be there permanently, to be honest. A decent 75% accuracy rate on 55 passes, but he blanked on all 3 crosses. 2 shots, 1 on target. He won an impressive 9 of 16 duels and 5 of 6 tackles, adding to that 4 clearances and 8 recoveries.

LDM: ANDERSON ASIEDU – 8. Ando was the FotMob and Legion MOTM, and not without reason. Defensively, he won 11 of 13 duels and 3 of 4 tackles. He logged 2 blocks, 1 clearance and 17 recoveries. He blasted one shot predictably high, but was on target with his other one (if rather weakly taken). 52 of 66 passes connected.

RDM: MATTHEW CORCORAN – 7. At some point on the not too distant future Matthew is going to be worth some serious money. Playing with maturity well beyond his years, he has established himself as one half of the double pivot. 102 minutes in this game, 74% accuracy on 61 passing attempts, but no shots. He won 4 of 8 duels, made 1 tackle, 2 clearances and 4 recoveries.

LAM: DIBA NWEGBO – 7. Diba played 56 minutes, making way for Gabriel Alves in a straight swap. He made a major nuisance of himself on the left wing, although the numbers don’t really reflect that. 13 of 18 passes were good, but none of his 4 crosses. He had 1 shot blocked.

CAM: ENZO MARTINEZ – 7. A pretty typical Enzo game, if unspectacular. 3 shots, 1 on target, 1 off and 1 blocked. Good on 19 of his 23 passes. He reliably sank his PK.

RAM: PROSPER KASIM – 8. Surprising pulled as extra time started given that PKs were already on the cards at that point. His primary contribution was of course the goal, which could stand as goal of the tournament, and certainly goal of the round.

FWD: JUAN AGUDELO – 7. Juan was given two chances at his PK and failed on both, although Antoine may have been even farther off his line on the second one. He had a frustrating 4 shots all off target, but was nevertheless threatening all night. He also went 89% on 47 passes, extremely high numbers for a striker.

SUB: GABRIEL ALVES – 7. The only sub in regulation. Gabriel took over at left mid and ended with 2 shots on target and 1 chance created. He was an OKish 71% on 28 passes, including 1 of 3 in crosses.

SUB: PHANUEL KAVITA – 7. Phanny probably didn’t expect to play at all, but his extra time contribution held Chatttanooga off, winning 3 of 5 duels and making 6 recoveries.

SUB: DANTE JOHNSON –6.5. Dante’s first 18 minutes as a first team player. Hopefully he won’t get a yellow card every 18 minutes; that’s 5 a game. He had 9 total touches, including 1 blocked shot, a perfect 100% on 6 passes and 2 recoveries. A pretty good start.

SUB: TYLER PASHER – 7. Obviously brought on for PKs, Tyler got a shot off in his 4 minutes of playing time anyway. It was blocked. He also got off 2 crosses, neither finding a man, but that’s pretty busy.

SUB: JAKE RUFE – N/A. Jake came on with a minute left and clearly did little in the game. However, he wasted no time at all with his PK which he blasted into the net at a hellish speed.

HC: TOMMY SOEHN – 7. Tommy is probably relieved to have more or less his entire squad available. – Neco was working out pre-game and Mikey was in the 18 – but he did seem to be resigned to PKs. It worked out though.