Nashville SC played out a scoreless draw Tuesday night against Mexican giants Club América at home in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals. While not an ideal result for the Coyotes, they did prevent the visitors from scoring a potentially important away goal.
Let's dig into the player ratings.
Ben Wright
• Players begin with a base grade of 6 and can increase or decrease their rating based on performance.
• Players must play a minimum of 15 minutes to earn a rating.
Brian Schwake - 7.5
Brian Schwake was tidy overall, and while he wasn't forced into the most difficult saves, he handled everything América threw at him. Composed with his distribution, too, as has become the norm.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.2
Reed Baker-Whiting - 7.5
Reed Baker-Whiting was a steady presence on the left hand side, frequently being positioned 1v1 with América's Isaías Violante, and more often than not, Baker-Whiting had answers for the Mexican winger.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.2
Maxwell Woledzi - 8.0
Much like the rest of the backline, Maxwell Woledzi didn't have to do quite as much defending as he might have expected coming in. He responded when needed, though, and was a valuable outlet in possession.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 7.4
Jeisson Palacios - 8.5
Jeisson Palacios would've been man of the match for Nashville on most other nights for me. In fact, he did earn the honor on Sofascore after winning all three of his ground duels and 70% of his aerial duels, in addition to completing 89 of his 95 passing attempts, including 39 of 44 in the attacking half.
Stock: Up
Sofascore Rating: 8.2
Andy Nájar - 8.5
Andy Nájar was so dangerous on the ball late in the game that, from his right back spot, he was drawing two defenders anytime the ball got anywhere near him. Made several seriously impressive runs with the ball, although in the end fruitless, and provided a spark for Nashville in a time they needed it.
Stock: Up
Sofascore Rating: 7.3
Patrick Yazbek - 7.0
Patrick Yazbek was calm and steady in the midfield, and got some good work done in both attack and defense, but the gaps allowing the final ball linking his line to the front three weren't there for the Australian, so he wasn't able to be as involved in chance creation as he has been.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.9
Matt Corcoran - 7.0
Matt Corcoran played a full 90 and was involved from whistle to whistle at all three levels of the field. The most impressive moments he had were perhaps his recovery runs in defense, an area he can often get beat on pace, but not Tuesday.
Of course, his long balls were there as always, even if he only completed one of five. Most importantly, he was a very calm presence in the midfield linking between the lines as well.
This is the kind of performance that maybe fans and clueless writers don't talk about long-term, but a coaching staff looks back on as a turning point for a young player.
Stock: Up
Sofascore Rating: 7.2
Warren Madrigal - 6.5
Warren Madrigal got a good amount of touches on the ball and had some nice moments, but overall wasn't able to really affect or create anything that had any real juice to it.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.3
Cristian Espinoza - 6.5
Cristian Espinoza had one of his more meh games in Gold on Tuesday, and it's not really anything that you can blame him for. Club América did a good job closing him down on the wing and taking away his ability to fire balls into and across the box. He did have a potentially dangerous deflected shot in the first half that was saved as well.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.7
Hany Mukhtar - 6.5
Hany Mukhtar looked at times, especially in the second half, to be pressing a bit too hard. As usual he was involved all over the field, and set up a couple of good counters, but there was also times where he was caught from behind at full tilt, which isn't something that often happens to the German former MVP.
The unusually short rest between Saturday and Tuesday probably has something to do with that, but it's something worth noting.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.5
Sam Surridge - 5.0
Sam Surridge fought through a lot to get a handful of good chances in this one, but wasn't able to do anything with them. Club América totally took him out of the picture in attack for pretty large portions of the game, and yet, he probably had two or three moments he wishes he could have back. On another night, he scores.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.4
Substitutes
Alex Muyl - 6.5
Alex Muyl was lively after coming on, and was gifted the best — and Nashville's final — chance of the evening, only for the shot to be sent well over the crossbar. He has to do better.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.5
Eddi Tagseth - N/A
Eddi Tagseth came on fairly late for Yazbek, and got involved where he could.
Stock: Unchanged
Sofascore Rating: 6.6
Ahmed Qasem - N/A
Ahmed Qasem was the final of three substitutions for the Coyotes. In perhaps his biggest test in terms of opponent quality, the young Swede put on one of his best cameos of the season. On another night, if the shot from is better, Qasem walks away with an assist on the game-winner, but it was not to be.
Stock: Up
Sofascore Rating: 6.5
Manager
BJ Callaghan - 7.5
BJ Callaghan rolled out a full-strength lineup and made only substitutions that would lead you to believe they were chasing the game. The tactical plan was also good, as the Coyotes held América to just three shots on target, while the hosts also held the majority of the possession.
0-0 is far from ideal for Callaghan and co. heading into Estadio Azteca, but it is a manageable and acceptable result by all means.
