After an excellent outing in Rhode Island the Legion returned home and yet again was unable to post back-to-back wins. All told, it was a weakish attacking performance in front of an unusually large crowd for a midweek game (thanks in part to the presence of the World Cup trophy). Thus, rather than catching up to Miami the Three Sparks remain 3 points back of the South Floridians and drop below the playoff line again due to results elsewhere. Still, the unbeaten streak extends to 5 games, equalled only by Loudoun United and bested only by the Tampa Bay Rowdies who have yet to taste defeat. The next opportunity to win in league play will be May 23rd when the team heads all the way to Monterey Bay. This week we are back to USL Cup play with the team up to Chattanooga.
Here are the individual assessments:
GK: JASSEM KOLEILAT – B
Jassem was credited with 3 saves in the game, although I think the most dramatic of them was probably going wide. He wasn’t even challenged at all until the 65th minute. Passing was uncharacteristically poor at 70% accuracy on just 20 attempts.
LB: DAWSON MCCARTNEY – B
With Phanny on the bench, Dawson was handed the captain’s armband again. He recorded no defensive actions but won 3 of 5 duels. In attack he was moderately successful, connecting on 1 of 3 crosses and creating 3 scoring chances. He completed 43 of 49 passes.
LB: RAMIZ HAMOUDA- B
Raz was officially subbed out in the 32nd minute but had gone down at least 2 minutes earlier. Not good news. However, his highly painful exit was potentially Oscar-worthy: he was under instructions to leave slowly to get Phanny ready with as little time at 10 men as possible. Like Dawson, no defensive actions and he lost his only duel, unsurprisingly. He did manage to make 24 passes, connecting on all but 2.
CB: KEEGAN HUGHES – B+
Finally back in Birmingham after a month back north with the New England Revolution. In that month he played precisely no games, having incurred an injury in practice and spending the entire time rehabbing. Raz’s injury forced to move to the left, not his preferred side. Despite that, and as with most of the back line, he was relatively untested. He made 4 clearances and won 2 of 6 duels. Passing was very strong: a 90.2% accuracy rate on 51 passes, and 93.8% in the attacking half.
RB: AMIR DALEY – B-
Amir was yanked in the 61st minute, 10 minutes after getting a deserved yellow card. Even on abbreviated time, he was the most active member of the back 4. He made 3 tackles, 4 clearances and 1 block and was in 10 duels, winning 6. He also contributed well in attack, having a shot blocked, sending in a cross and creating a scoring chance. Oddly, he attempted only 28 passes and was a weak 78.6% good on them.
LDM: SAM MCILLHATTON – B
Sam had his obligatory shot off target, and pretty wildly so this time. He also had an unsuccessful cross, unusual from his position. He was incredibly active defensively though, which rather highlights the team’s attacking impotence: 2 tackles, 3 clearances and a hefty 7 interceptions. good in 3 of 5 duels and he racked up 78 passes with accuracy of 83.3%.
RDM: SETH ANTWI – B-
With Sam’s and Seth’s numbers you would think Sam was the defensive pivot, reinforcing the point of poor attacking force. Seth made just 1 clearance and 1 interception and lost 5 of 6 duels. 88.7% passing accuracy was about the best statistical contribution (on 53 tries).
LAM: GEVORK DIARBIAN – C
Gevork was entirely unable to generate any real attacking chances, although he had 1 shot on target and 1 blocked for a personal xG of 0.26. He did not create any real scoring chances and struggled to get around Miami fullback Bachir Ndiaye and center Daltyn Knutson. Not a good week for him.
CAM: TYLER PASHER – B-
A week off didn’t do much to get Tyler any success. Only 2 shots, both of which were blocked. He blocked 2 himself though. He created 3 scoring chances, all of which went wanting. His average position was well back of where he normally hangs out. Subbed out after 79 minutes.
RAM: SEBASTIAN TREGARTHEN – A+
The most active player on the team by far. Seba got in 4 shots; 2 were off target and 2 were blocked. He was also responsible for a scoring chance. He made 1 tackle, 1 clearance and 2 blocks to boot, and was involved in a whopping 15 duels, of which he won 9 (and at least one in grand style). 19 of 25 passes found a man, although he was far less successful in the attacking half at just 36.4% accurate. Back-to-back Man of the Match awards.
FWD: RONALDO DAMUS – C
Ronaldo’s yellow card was perhaps unearned (his coach certainly thought so) but after that he was on the referee’s radar. He didn’t adjust his playing style and was lucky not to get carded a second time. That was partly why he was subbed out in the 79th minute. You can’t fault his work rate but it was all rather futile. 1 shot on target, 1 off and 2 chances created.
SUB: PHANUEL KAVITA – B
Phanny may as well have been the starter at right center back. As usual, he was largely unchallenged. Just 3 clearances to his name along with 3 duels (winning all of them). Nothing in attack this time; good on 24 of 27 passes.
SUB: PETER-LEE VASSELL – C
Peter-Lee came on in place of Amir in an obvious attempt to kick-start the attack. He did have a shot on target, albeit from long range. Good on just 8 of 12 passes and he lost all 3 of his duels. Not very helpful, all things considered.
SUB: SERGE NGOMA – B
Serge put in 17 minutes of play, including 2 late shots. The first was off target and the second , ]barely before the final whistle, should have had more power and did not really make Miami keeper Eloy Room work. Relatively uninvolved otherwise.
SUB: ROMARIO WILLIAMS – C
No attacking activity at all is not what you want from a late striker sub. Not much else to say on that.
SUB: SEBASTIAN SAUCEDO – B-
Bofo was not able to get a shot in but did create a scoring chance. He was possibly in position to make a shot a couple of times but for whatever reason chose not to use his very powerful leg.
HC: JAY HEAPS – B-
Jay was frustrated with his team’s inability to score and was also upset with some of the refereeing decisions, which earned him a yellow card. Not sure what the post mortem will show on this one but he will need to rethink it. And he will definitely need to get the team ready to score multiple goals on Chattanooga this week.
