Houston Dynamo player ratings at FC Cincinnati

(image via Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

On Saturday evening the Houston Dynamo suffered a tough loss to FC Cincinnati, losing 2-1. There was some solid performances and some rough times for others. Let’s look at every player and rate how they did.

Steve Clark - 3

Clark had a disappointing evening getting beaten at his near post for the first while even getting a hand on the shot. He also struggled distributing the ball going long and short.

Franco Escobar - 2

Escobar played an extremely rough 70 minutes, getting torched by Alvaro Barreal on multiple occasions. One of those lead to Cincinnati’s opening goal. He struggled to find chemistry with everyone around him and looked completely lost at times.

Ethan Bartlow - 5

Bartlow earned a start after a strong preseason showing but did not make the most of his opportunities in this first game of the regular season. He struggled to distribute the ball for most of the game and failed to defend Sergio Santos on the first goal. Bartlow did improve as this game went on and had a decent second half.

Teenage Hadebe - 6

Teenage was consistently in good positions and made multiple strong tackles while keeping Brandon Vazquez quiet most of the night. He did also struggle with distribution, nearly handing a goal to Cincinnati in the second half.

Tate Schmitt - 8

Schmitt did his job defensively for most of the night. Tate was not at his best playing out of the back but was better than the rest of the defense. He did score the only Houston goal off a wonderful header to close out the first half.

Artur - 7

Artur was quietly very effective all night long. He kept Luciano Acosta in check most of the time while also managing to provide a very steady passing game. He did not do much wrong but also did not do anything too special either.

Hector Herrera - 8

Herrera was not always at his best in the final third, but he was constantly providing an option to pass to and kept the ball ticking throughout the game. Herrera’s best moments came from dead ball situations, creating multiple chances and the eventual goal.

Coco Carrasquilla - 4

Coco found himself having an extremely rough game in possession. There were lots of flashbacks to last year’s Coco with his decision making around the box. Although Coco pressed high and really well, he did not do nearly enough on the ball as the Dynamo needed with Amine Bassi missing.

Corey Baird - 3

Baird looked much more like last year’s early season Baird then he did late season. Expectations were high for Corey coming into the week but he failed to impress any time he received the ball. He did make some good runs where he was never found but the times he was, nothing came of it.

Ivan Franco - 6

Franco, at times, looked like the most inventive of the forwards on Saturday. He worked extremely well and got on the ball in good spots in the second half. Unfortunately, he was never able to make the most of any of the chances he had on the night. He was easily the biggest bright spot going forward.

Sebastian Ferreira - 3

Tough night for Sebas as he looked really out of sync with everyone around him. He looked like the rustiest player on the field as most of the time he had the ball he was completely ineffective. He did have one massive chance that he skied over the bar.

Subs

Griffin Dorsey - 7

Dorsey came off the bench and solidified the right-side way more than Escobar did. Griffin was solid passing and moving the ball up field while not making any mistakes defensively.

Nelson Quinones - 6

Quinones looked extremely lively off the bench, making constant runs to stretch the backline. Unfortunately, his end product was not great once he got in those good positions but adding that energy off the bench is something the Dynamo have missed over the last few seasons.

Thor Ulfarsson - 4

Thor really did not do much of anything once he came on. He barely touched the ball at all and when one solid chance fell to him right after coming on his shot got blocked and saved.

Brooklyn Raines - N/A

Raines only came on in stoppage time and was not able to make any impact in that short time.

Ben Olsen - 6

Olsen’s first game back coaching was not great, but also not bad either. There were not many issues with the lineup and subs. He got the team to wake up after the first goal but it was not enough to pull out three points.