The guys at Speedway Soccer Pod are back with their Nashville SC player evaluations and ratings, this time recapping the positives from the 2-0 victory against Ottawa Fury FC Friday night.

Matt Pickens – 8.0: Didn’t have an incredibly busy night, but was aggressive off his line when called on and made three saves.

London Woodberry – 8.5: Started on the right side of a back three. Solid defensively and really good in possession. Came close to scoring on a floated header that nearly caught Crépeau off his line. Moved to right back once Bourgeois was introduced. : Started on the right side of a back three. Solid defensively and really good in possession. Came close to scoring on a floated header that nearly caught

Liam Doyle – 8.5: Had a really strong outing. Aggressive with his forward passing and picked out pockets of space well. Made 11 clearances and popped up in good areas defensively, including a goal-saving clearance in the 81st minute. One of his better performances of the season.

Justin Davis – 8.0: A veteran defensive performance. At times wasn’t patient enough in possession, opting for a ball over the top instead of finding an open teammate, but overall a good night.

Ish Jome – 8.0: Worked tirelessly from the right wingback spot. Consistently found himself in good 1v1 spots and consistently burned his defender to get to the endline. His service into the box didn’t always find a forward, but dangerous all night. Came off for Bourgeois after 65 minutes.

Matt LaGrassa – 8.5: Continued his good run of form with his first USL goal for Nashville. Got in good spots all night and sees space really well. Another strong showing. Voted Man of the Match by the fans.

Michael Reed – 8.0: Played as the lone holder in a 3-1-4-2, and covered a ton of ground. Kept the ball moving well and made a few key tackles. Good night.

Lebo Moloto – 9.0: Nashville’s most dangerous player on the night. Played in a deeper role than usual, and was inventive all game. Linked up well with Washington and LaGrassa, and got the assist for LaGrassa’s opener. Came off for Akinyode after 80 minutes.

Taylor Washington – 8.5: Used his pace really well and consistently put in good service to the box. Created the most chances of any Nashville player (three) and looks really comfortable at that left wingback spot.

Brandon Allen – 8.0: Had three shots on target, one of which was the penalty, and the other two coming within a couple seconds of each other. Worked really hard, even though he wasn’t as involved as he’d like to be. Scored Nashville’s second with a well-taken penalty.

Tucker Hume – 8.5: Other than Moloto, Nashville’s best player. Got into plenty of dangerous spots, troubled the defense with his size, and held up the ball well. Did well to earn a penalty in the second half. Replaced by Mensah after 70 minutes after putting in another strong shift. This team has a different dynamic when he starts, and it’s worked well the past two matches.

SUBS

Bradley Bourgeois – 8.0: Came back earlier than expected after a month out through injury, and looked like he hadn’t missed a minute. Made a couple key interventions defensively. It will be really important to this team’s playoff push to have him healthy.

Ropapa Mensah – 7.5: Replaced Hume after 70 minutes and caused problems. Had a good shot go just wide and stretched the field as always. Good showing.

Bolu Akinyode 8.0: Came on with 10 minutes left to play in place of Moloto, and helped Nashville close the game out. Completed a cool 92 percent of his passes and did well to maintain possession late in the game.

Manager

Gary Smith – 8.5: His switch to a back 3 has really revitalized this team, and they put in another strong performance against a playoff-caliber team. For the second straight game they’ve looked creative in the final third, and his incorporation of Tucker Hume into the starting XI has paid off. Hopefully this is the start of a strong playoff push.