Houston Dynamo player ratings vs San Jose Earthquakes

(image via Houston Dynamo FC)

After a very long night, the Dynamo managed to beat the San Jose Earthquakes 4-1. Let’s take a look at how everyone performed.

Starters

Steve Clark-7

It was a quiet night for Steve in terms of saves, being he had no saves. There was not a ton he could have done on the goal he did concede. He played very well distributing out of the back, starting multiple attacks with his long balls.

Franco Escobar-8

Franco was superb once again playing at right back. He made a massive four blocks defensively and contributed very well offensively with four shot-creating actions.

Erik Sviathcenko-5

Not a spectacular 60 minutes for Erik as he was fairly poor defensively. He had a few too many times where he pushed up and missed an interception, leading to promising attacks for San Jose. One of these times he had to foul and take a yellow card to stop a for sure attack. While his defending was not great, his passing out of the back was incredible. He also hit the post from a set piece.

Micael-8

Another incredible defensive performance from Micael. He stuck to Jeremy Ebobisse for most of the game and limited him to only one real opportunity. Like Erik, his passing was also key in taking away San Jose’s press.

Daniel Steres-9

Steres had the difficult task of defending Cristian Espinoza’s side. He kept Espinoza quiet all game except for a ten-minute spell at the end of the first half. This was one of Daniel’s best games going forward as well as his passing and dribbling were great.

Artur-7

Artur continued doing what he does best, stopping all fires in the midfield. He made a massive three tackles and completed 92% of his passes. The big knock on him was that he was beat to the ball by Carlos Akapo to score San Jose’s only goal.

Hector Herrera-9

Leading up to the weather delay, Hector was only just ok in this game. Once the game restarted, he was by far the best player on the field. His passing was incredibly inventive, causing all sorts of problems for San Jose. He was able to assist both goals to Thor to put the game to bed.

Amine Bassi-9

Bassi was immense in just about every aspect of this game. His defensive work gifted him the opening goal of the game just three minutes in. The creative side of his game came out when he played Nelson Quinones in behind to assist the second goal of the game. This was possibly his best performance in a Dynamo jersey yet.

Corey Baird-9

Corey was electric in this game, constantly running at defenders. His defensive work was also great making three interceptions and two blocks. He also managed to score a goal to double the Dynamo’s advantage.

Nelson Quinones-7

Another really good performance for Nelson as he continues to be the most direct player for the Dynamo. He started the game incredibly well, getting the assist for Corey’s goal. He did slow down as Akapo started getting the better of him. He was then subbed out early in the game when the restart happened.

Aliyu Ibrahim-5

Another great night for Aliyu when it comes to his off-ball play. He stretched the field creating a massive pocket of space for Bassi to operate in. Unfortunately, his work in front of goal was very poor as he had two clear chances to score and missed the target both times.

Substitutes

Ethan Bartlow-7

Ethan came on for Sviatchenko when the game restarted. He was phenomenal as San Jose barely had a sniff of the Dynamo goal for the rest of the game.

Luis Caicedo-7

Like Bartlow, he also came in to begin the restart. He came on for Nelson as the Dynamo went for a more defensive shape. He added a great presence to the midfield, not allowing San Jose much room to work with.

Thor Ulfarsson-9

Not surprising Thor had his best game of the season after a lighting delay. His positioning in the box was superb as he was constantly peeling off defenders and finding space. Herrera was able to find him in those pockets two times and he finished them both brilliantly.

Griffin Dorsey-N/A

Griffin only came on with less than ten minutes to go.

Head Coach

Ben Olsen-9

Ben setup to press early right off the kickoff. This plan worked incredibly well as they scored two early goals. He recognized the drop off towards the end of the half and made the adjustment to slow down the game in the second half. It is a sign of great coaching when the team can take a two-hour break and come out of that break looking that energetic. His subs to begin the restart worked wonderfully as San Jose were completely shut out after that.