Houston Dynamo player ratings vs Columbus Crew

(image via Houston Dynamo FC)

The Dynamo made it four wins in a row after beating the Columbus Crew 2-0 at Shell Energy Stadium. Let’s take a look at how everyone performed.

Starters

Steve Clark-9

Steve had himself a complete performance in every aspect of the game. He was dominant in his box making three tough saves and being a leader in the backline. This was his 11th shutout in MLS play, which has him tied for first place in the league with Stefan Frei. It’s important to note that Clark has played one less game than Frei as well!

Franco Escobar-8

Escobar is really starting to evolve the way the team plays with him as the left back. The way he is able to contribute so much defensively while starting attacks is incredible. He got into some dangerous spots to create or score goals and his end product was not the best. The threat of him changes the way teams defend, however.

Micael-9

Micael just seemed to know where the ball was going to end up every time a Crew player attempted a shot or pass. He was in the right place every single time. He made a whopping eight clearances to alleviate the pressure that was constantly coming in the second half.

Erik Sviatchenko-8

Like Micael, his defensive instinct was incredible once again. He was not as ball dominant as Micael was, but his passes were calm and accurate.

Griffin Dorsey-8

Once again, Dorsey just added so much life into this Dynamo team on both sides of the ball. He was constantly driving the team forward and should have had an assist for Corey’s goal. Corey hit the keeper with the first shot, so sadly Dorsey’s assist did not count. He also made three massive blocks on crosses in dangerous areas.

Artur-9

Playing against his former club, there was for sure some extra motivation for Artur. His calm presence was everything to the way Houston dominated this match. His passing is so good under pressure and he barely puts a foot wrong. His offensive output has been much improved lately as well with four shot-creating actions.

Hector Herrera-8

Hector continues to do his thing and prove why he is a legit candidate for the Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player award. His ability to cover so much ground for this team is out of this world. He was a bit quiet for a period of the second half where Columbus was more ball dominant. However, all it took was one transition opportunity to find an assist to Aliyu Ibrahim with a great pass in behind. That turn before the pass was world class. He is now tied for the lead in MLS with 13 assists.

Amine Bassi-6

Maybe not the cleanest performance from Bassi, but he was not necessarily bad. He was looking to do just a bit too much at times in the box. You sometimes wish he would take one less touch and just shoot the ball instead of trying to be more fancy.

Coco Carrasquilla-6

A lot of what was said about Bassi translates to what could be said about Coco’s performance. He was certainly not bad but was making things a bit more complicated for himself than it needed to be. As always, his work rate was superb and he played a big role in the overall team performance.

Nelson Quinones-7

While Nelson’s offensive game was a bit poor on the night, his defensive work was massive. He was able to carry the ball into the attack time and time again but could not do much with it. He still has some work to do but is developing very nicely compared to what we were seeing early in the season.

Corey Baird-8

Corey Baird just can’t stop scoring goals! Who would’ve thought we’d be saying that after his form last year and early this year? You’ve got to be incredibly happy for a player who works his tail off week in and week out. He was always just missing the final finishing touch and it has seems to come for him this season. He is now at 11 goals and 5 assists on the season!

Substitutes

Brad Smith-6

Brad came in for Nelson to provide extra cover down that flank, knowing Gressel would enter the game any minute. He did a solid job doing just that. Both Smith and Escobar had a great understanding of each other positionally and defended great. Smtih was not able to get on the ball going forward as much as he would have liked, however.

Luis Caicedo-7

Caicedo barely had a sniff of the ball with only six touches, but that is not what he was brought on the field to do. He was brought on to add another body in midfield and allow less space for the dangerous subs Columbus were bringing on. He did a great job as always and helped the team see out the win.

Aliyu Ibrahim-7

Aliyu came on to add a counter attacking threat with his pace and he did just that. He timed his run to perfection to get in behind the defense and score with an excellent finish. He is improving and has had two great games in a row with a goal involvement. Finishing plays has been his struggle this year, so it’s very exciting to see him finish there with such confidence.

Daniel Steres-N/A

Head Coach

Ben Olsen-9

Ben’s coaching has been superb over the last three games and this one was no different. He has almost perfected this system now with the change of Escobar’s position and the implementation of Griffin Dorsey. His small in-game tweaks with Herrera and Coco’s positions add a necessary dynamic to this team that was missing in the early season. He has the boys playing much more dynamically and it is resulting in more chances. With how dominant this midfield and defense has been, the sky is the limit for how good this team can be rest of season.