Rhode Island FC played against Birmingham Legion FC at Beirne Stadium on Saturday night in the second matchup of the season between the two teams. Both teams were in the middle of the pack in the eastern conference, with the opportunity to rocket up the table or miss the playoffs entirely.

Both teams found themselves in a bit of a rough patch leading into this match – Rhode Island had won just one of their last five matches, and Birmingham Legion FC having failed to score in their last two matches – both of which were losses.

Birmingham Legion FC would not find the answer to their problems here, as Rhode Island controlled the match for all 90 minutes with nearly 60% of possession and 15 total shots compared to just four for Birmingham, and only one of those shots coming from inside the box.

Here are my player ratings for Rhode Island FC vs. Birmingham Legion FC on Saturday, August 31st, 2024.

Koke Vegas (GK) – 7/10

Koke only had to make two saves, but kept a clean sheet for the second consecutive match, and the third time in four matches. He was quick off his line and actually led all players with nine ball recoveries. He was 2/11 on his long ball distribution, but I felt the distribution was fine. In many cases the duels weren’t being won by the receiving player.

Morris Duggan (D) – 7/10

Duggan has slotted into the team and provided exactly what was advertised. He looks very comfortable and confident when defending, especially with a player running at him. He led all players with 78 touches as RIFC looked to launch their attack through Duggan and you can see why; his ground passing is very accurate (92% in this match) but not overly safe. He played a ground pass to Noah Fuson in the forward line during the first half that took about five Birmingham players out of the play entirely.

His foul in the 19th minute, which earned him a yellow card, was unnecessary – but it came after a sequence of great build up play and a nice run from Duggan, so it’s hard to be too upset with him.

Karifa Yao (D) – 6/10

Yao was less involved in this match than the past couple, mainly because Birmingham really did not provide much in terms of attacking threat. As we’ve come to expect, Yao led all players in a couple of key categories: clearances (4), and aerial duels won with 3/4 (75%).

Frank Nodarse (D) – 6/10

Nodarse was not especially busy either – again, partially an indictment on how toothless Birmingham was in this match, but also a testament to the RIFC defenders’ ability to snuff out any danger before it became a scoring chance.

I was happy to see Frank back in the starting XI – and, so far, enjoying the method of integrating Duggan via rotation, instead of replacing one of the three central defenders permanently.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 7/10

This was an excellent performance from Clay Holstad, and resulted in a typically packed “box score” for Clay. He had three shot attempts – the first two of which were not particularly close chances, but the third which forced the Birmingham keeper to make a tough save.

More important than the shots – Clay is the king of turning defense into offense. He recovered the ball six times and won seven out of his nine duels. He regularly looks to transition quickly into attack, whether by dribbling (he led all players with three successful take ons), or finding a pass into the final third (where he was again tied for a game-high eight).

Marc Ybarra (MF) – 7/10

Ybarra does so much dirty work for the team that he can often be overshadowed by his midfield partner, Clay Holstad. This was not one of those matches, as Ybarra shined nearly just as bright as Holstad. The “uncharacteristic sloppiness” that was occasionally seen in last week’s match was totally gone, as Ybarra was another 90+% accurate passer along with Duggan, Holstad, Dikwa, and Yao.

Ybarra appeared to be more involved in the attack than usual in this match, as he created chances for Panayotou and Holstad in the first half, JJ Williams in the second half, and had a shot of his own on a free kick that nearly found the back of the net.

Jojea Kwizera (MF) – 7/10

Kwizera’s usual tenacity on the left wing was on full display in this match. He had two shots on target, and the second one surely could’ve been a goal.

The majority of his crosses or cutback passes did not find an RIFC player, but the one accurate cross he did produce proved to be significant, as Kwizera assisted RIFC’s second goal that put the match to bed in the 90th minute. He was also heavily involved in the build up to the first goal.

Through a combination of fair and unfair decisions by various referee’s, Kwizera does seem to have a bit of a knack for picking up yellow cards. He has seven on the season, with five of those coming in the last seven matches.

Stephen Turnbull (MF) – 7/10

Much like Kwizera, Turnbull is a waking nightmare for his opposing counterpart on the right flank all game long. Turnbull tied Enzo Martinez with a game high eight duels won out of ten.

In the 71st minute, Turnbull scored to break the deadlock with a very hard-hit finish from just outside of the six-yard box off a lay off by JJ Williams. Just four minutes later, Turnbull nearly caught the Birmingham goalkeeper off his line from around the halfway line of the field.

I usually complain about players getting yellow cards, but not when it’s for celebrating in the stands with the fans. I’ll take all the yellow cards in the world for this. I don’t even care if it’s a second yellow – do it anyway.

@Stephen, if there’s a fine for the celebration let us know… I would like to make a donation.

Jack Panayotou (MF) – 6/10

Jack P is back and looked very bright in his return to action with RIFC. His last match with the team was on June 1, so I do think there were some signs of rust – or, at least a lack of familiarity with his teammates – that will improve with time on the practice field and more game time. He won just one out of six duels, but, again – he played just 238 minutes of football in August with the most recent 90 being in MLSNP.

More than anything, I had almost forgotten how smooth Jack P is on the ball. Some of his technical dribbling ability and his silky turns on the ball really stand out among his contemporaries in USL – and show why he is on an MLS roster.

Noah Fuson (F) – 5/10

I was a bit frustrated by Noah’s performance, but am also fully sympathetic to the fact that with the return of Jack Panayotou he was asked to play a role, as Dikwa’s strike partner, that he has not played since earlier in the season.

The ball often found Fuson in a good position – or he would work himself into a good position (he led all players with nine touches in the opposition box) – but I felt that too often it didn’t result in a good scoring chance. As always – this is a two-way street. Fuson didn’t always make the right decision, but he didn’t always have great options from his teammates, either.

Albert Dikwa (F) – 5/10

I don’t really have any issues with Dikwa’s performance, I just found him to be mostly anonymous in this match. He managed just 18 touches – the fewest of all RIFC starters – with three of those being in the opponent box (compared to his strike partner, Noah Fuson, who led all players with nine).

Generally I thought the link up between Jack P, Fuson, and Dikwa was missing something – but it’s three players who have not played together since May 25th. There is absolutely no need to hit the panic button based on this.

Subs

JJ Williams (F) (67th minute) – 8/10

This was pretty much the perfect substitute appearance, in my opinion. Williams came on in the 67th minute and assisted Stephen Turnbull’s game-winning goal, with a clever little flick on in the box, just four minutes later. 20 minutes after that, Williams used his head to score an insurance goal off of a cross from Jojea Kwizera.

In between those two key events, Williams had a crucial defensive clearance in our own box and also won a foul in our half to relieve pressure during one of the (brief and infrequent) periods of Birmingham threat. Williams says that he will do anything to help the team win, and he embodied that in this match.

Joe Brito (MF) (80th minute) – 5/10

Brito completed only two out of his five attempted passes in the brief substitute appearance. To be fair – I recall one attempted through ball to Turnbull down the right wing that was cut out. It was definitely the right decision and a tricky pass that unfortunately just got cut out.

He also picked up a yellow card for kicking the ball away in the 93rd minute. It definitely wasn’t necessary, but I didn’t really mind it either.

Gabriel Alves (MF) (92nd minute) – 6/10

I hope that Gabi gets a chance for some increased minutes with Kwizera going to represent the Rwanda National Team.

Mark Doyle (F) (92nd minute) – 5/10

We learned from Scott’s mid-week chat with Gabi Alves that Mark Doyle is a slow driver. I almost want to give him a point just for that.

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For reference, my rating scale is as follows:

• 1/10 – Abysmal. You might as well have me on the pitch.
• 2/10 – Very bad
• 3/10 – Bad
• 4/10 – Below Average
• 5/10 – Average. The player didn’t necessarily stand out, but did their job.
• 6/10 – Good
• 7/10 – Very good
• 8/10 – Great
• 9/10 – Outstanding
• 10/10 – Transcendent performance. Watch out, because Real Madrid may come knocking.