Houston Dynamo player ratings vs Santos Laguna

(image via Houston Dynamo FC)

The Dynamo beat Liga MX side Santos Laguna on penalties, following a 2-2 draw, to put the Dynamo in a great spot to qualify for the knockouts. Let’s take a look at how everyone performed.

Starters

Steve Clark-8

Steve made a monster eight saves in this game to keep the game from getting out of hand in the second half. A lot of these saves were more routine, but making the easy saves is not always a guarantee at this level. You would have liked him to have saved one of the six penalties he faced on the night, but he still had a great game regardless.

Griffin Dorsey-9

This was the second game in a row where Griffin Dorsey came in and had a man of the match performance. He was everywhere on the night, constantly taking on players and putting in dangerous crosses. His incredible performance was capped off with one of the best goals scored this season.

Erik Sviatchenko-8

Erik was dominant in almost every way on the night. He was incredible in the air and was constantly putting his body on the line. He also looked a lot quicker than usual when defending the transition plays. The only criticism was that he probably shouldn’t have gone to ground in the buildup to Santos’ first goal.

Micael-6

Micael had a good game for the most part. His big criticism is giving away the penalty to level the score for Santos. It was a very tough pass to deal with but he must learn to do better in those big moments.

Franco Escobar-5

Not Escobar’s greatest night out there. He certainly was not horrible, but struggled defensively in moments. He needed to do better in the build up to the first goal. He did well going forward and fits in the system more than Daniel Steres does as the wide center back.

Artur-6

Two very different halves for Artur. The first half he was his usual self, dominating the midfield and beating the press with his accurate passes. The second half, however, he just looked really tired and struggled to make an impact on the game.

Hector Herrera-6

Herrera had himself a fairly good game. He got the assist on Dorsey’s goal and created loads in the first half. In the second half he was extremely sloppy and failed to lift the team up like Dynamo fans expect him to do.

Amine Bassi-5

Bassi looked a lot more active with Coco alongside him in the midfield. He had lots of positive moments in the first half, like when he played in Herrera and the shot was cleared off the line. In the second half he was one of weakest performers on the field. His shooting was all over the place and his ability to get the ball into good areas was just nonexistent when it was needed most.

Coco Carrasquilla-7

Similar story for Coco as the other midfielders. Great in the first half and really struggled in the second. He was the best of the midfielders in the first half as the wide-open game played into his strengths. He managed to pick up an assist on Baird’s goal as well. The second half was rough and he nearly gave up a goal on a set piece.

Corey Baird-7

Corey had himself a good game, getting another goal, even if it was a strange one. They do all count. His work rate was excellent as always. He did struggle in the second half with how poor the midfield played.

Aliyu Ibrahim-7

Aliyu had a very intelligent game off the ball, creating loads of space for the offense in the first half. His movement on the first goal created a nice pocket of space for Baird to occupy and find the back of the net. On the second goal his run pulled in three defenders to give Dorsey that one on one opportunity and shot. His touch was a bit sloppy in moments, but overall, a good game.

Substitutes

Thor Ulfarrson-2

It’s a struggle to find what Thor brings to the team at this moment in time. He barely had a touch of the ball and did not do well to involve other teammates in the plays when he had it. It almost felt like they were playing with ten men once Thor came on.

Luis Caicedo-5

Caicedo only played a little more than ten minutes. He looked fine and stabilized the game to take it to penalties. He also converted his penalty as well.

Ivan Franco-6

Franco looked bright in this game, doing well to carry the ball into the final third. He had a good chance in the box to win the game and skied it over the bar. His overall play was more like what we saw on Friday night. Hopefully, he can put it all together soon.

Brad Smith-N/A

Smith only came on for penalties and he put his away. Not much else to discuss with his performance.

Head Coach

Ben Olsen-7

Olsen put out the best lineup available and set the team up to play a very energetic first half. He maybe should have been quicker making some subs, but the options on the bench are not the greatest. He really missed Nelson Quinones as an option. Overall, the team managed to win and look likely to make the knockouts, so a job well done.