Player Ratings: Louisville City 1-2 Birmingham Legion

This was not a perfect performance by any stretch of the imagination, but the team got the job done in the end. And so they included themselves as part of what turned out to be upset week in the USL Championship. Here’s how they all did:

GK: MATT VAN OEKEL – 7. Matt was left for dead on the goal and was also probably blinded by the sun. Not much he could do about it. Otherwise he made 3 saves and was a fairly typical 65.9% accurate on 41 passes.

LB: GABRIEL ALVES –7. Gabriel played 80 minutes before being taken out for a more attacking option. In that time he was solid. He connected on 25 of 31 passes, but attempted only one cross, unsuccessfully. He went 1for 2 in duels – a very low number – and made 2 clearances and 2 interceptions.

CB: PHANUEL KAVITA – 8. Not a great number of passes – 36 – but he found his target on all but 4. He won 3 of 4 duels, and recorded 1 tackle and a whopping 8 clearances.

CB: ALEX CROGNALE – 7.5. All told a great game, yellow card aside. The backheel goal was pure filth. It won Goal of the Week and he had one other shot blocked. He logged a hefty 61 passes, completing 83.6% of them, won 1 of 3 duels and made 3 clearances, 1 block and 4 interceptions. He was also on the bench of the Team of the Week.

RB: COLLIN SMITH – 5.5. Even without the yellow card Collin had a bad day and was pulled for Jake Rufe after 67 minutes. His attempted clearance led to the goal, of course, but his other stats were no better: 65.6% accurate on 32 passes, 2 of 7 in duels, 3 clearances and 1 interception.

LDM: MATTHEW CORCORAN – 9. 17 years old and getting our Man of the Match honors for the second straight game. Starting on Team of the Week. 2 assists, both off corners. 3 scoring chances. 5 of 8 in duels. 4 tackles, 1 clearance and 2 interceptions. Incredible game.

RDM: ANDERSON ASIEDU – 7. Most importantly, Ando got no card and so remains available against Charleston this week. He won 7 of 10 duels, including 1 aerial duel, and made 1 tackle and 1 clearance. His one shot was on target for once and counted as a scoring chance.

LAM: JUAN AGUDELO – 7. Juan got just one shot all game, but that’s all he needed. Amazingly, that was his only contribution to the attack, statistically speaking. He did get involved in the defense, although he lost 10 of a considerable 13 duels, including losing 4 aerial duels. He missed just 1 of 29 passes, though, and made 2 clearances and 3 interceptions.

CAM: TYLER PASHER – N/A. Tyler’s injury is the biggest worry coming out of this game. His exit changed the tactics, too. Anyway, in 32 minutes he made just the one unsuccessful cross and was 76.9%accurate on 13 passes.

RAM: PROSPER KASIM – 7. Not quite as good a game as last week, but still important. 2 shots, 1 on target. An 82.6% accuracy rate on 23 passes, 1 of 2 in duels and 2 clearances.

FWD: ENZO MARTINEZ – 7. Enzo’s 2 shots were both off target, but one just barely, and he knew he should have done better on both. Good on 16 of 21 passes.

SUB: NECO BRETT – 6. Neco entered the game way earlier than expected and played as the main striker. 2 shots, 1 on target, 1 blocked. Not an especially convincing showing, likely demonstrating why he is a bench option.

SUB: JAKE RUFE – 6.5. Jake replaced the struggling Collin Smith and dd rather better despite also getting a yellow. In 23 official minutes he was 8 for 9 in passing, won 1 of 4 duels and made 1 tackle and 2 clearances.

SUB: MOSES MENSAH – 6. 10 official minutes and relatively unremarkable. Perfect on just 5 passes, but lost his only duel. That’s it.

SUB: DIBA NWEGBO – 7. A late attacking addition. Diba created 1 scoring chance playing very on the right. He also completed all 5 of hi passes, won 1 of 2 duels and made 1 tackle and 1 clearance.

HC: TOMMY SOEHN – 7. Tommy clearly had a game plan, but that went out the window with Tyler’s exit. The Legion made some adjustments though and they worked.