Player Ratings: Houston Dynamo vs New York Red Bulls

Houston Dynamo Player Ratings:

Tally Hall (5) - Hall really didn't have a whole lot to do and he collected 0 saves but allowed two goals in. On the two goals he allowed, Hall was poorly positioned in order to make the save, most notably the first where he was very far from where he needed to be. His best contribution actually came from his distribution from the back, where he provided an outlet to switch the field.

Kofi Sarkodie (5.5) - Sarkodie never made many errors on the defensive end, but I would have liked to see him involved more in the offense. He didn't push up the field too often, as the Dynamo as a whole were content with passing the ball back because they were too wary of the NY counterattack. Sarkodie did manage to take a very good shot, but unfortunately it went over the crossbar.

Eric Brunner (4) - Brunner filled in again for the injured Jermaine Taylor and found that the NYRB were a bit more difficult to deal with than the Montreal Impact. Brunner had difficulty staying with his man - as seen in the 1^st goal against us, and he got burned and turned on NY's 2^nd goal. His best moment was in the 2^nd half, when he very nearly scored a header off a Brad Davis corner kick.

Bobby Boswell (5.5) - To me, Boswell was the best defender. He was active in switching the field, and had a very good header that led to our tying goal by Omar Cummings. Boswell did have some difficulty with the speed of NY's counter attacks early, but in the 2^nd half he was in charge and allowed very few opportunities by the visiting team.

Corey Ashe (5) - Ashe's pace seemed to come and go in this game, as he had difficulty keeping up with some of the players he was supposed to be marking (see the first goal). Ashe was able to consistently push the ball up to Davis, but Ashe never made many over lapping runs that were effective.

Warren Creavalle (5) - Creavalle had a tough game. He handled himself very well for most of it and made the right passes, but many of the NYRB counters came from some of his giveaways. He was able to close down space, but his turnovers really hurt the Dynamo early in the game.

Ricardo Clark, MotM, (7.5) - Clark once again proved to be the spine of the Dynamo. He struggled early on, but soon found himself all over the field winning balls for the Dynamo and making very good, accurate, and dangerous passes that led to opportunities for the Dynamo. His goal was also the momentum changer. The Dynamo came out of the locker room a different team after halftime, but it wasn't until Clark's goal that things started clicking on multiple fronts.

Boniek Garcia (7.5) - Boniek can pretty much take on 2 or 3 defenders on the dribble, and he's confident about doing so. He opens up other players when he does this, and his accurate passing creates chances for this team. There were a few times I wished he would have shot instead of passing the ball, but Boniek was involved in the majority of the Dynamo's offensive chances, and he was very good at tracking back and defending. He nearly earned my Man of the Match, but to me Clark's contributions were greater.

Brad Davis (7) - Davis's service was on tonight, but for some reason his targets weren't finding the net. There were several close headers that almost found the back of the net, but were saved or just off the mark. Davis also proved he has defensive prowess. I saw him track back multiple times and steal the ball from a Red Bull player, and that player was left stunned by how fast it happened.

Giles Barnes (5.5) - Barnes and Bruin's partnership seemed to be working against Montreal, and seemed to work for some stretches in the first half. However, the chances created weren't very great and the forwards weren't able to keep the ball in the final attacking third of the field for very long. Most of us here at DT believe he should be back at his natural CAM position and I believe that Cumming's performance earned him the start next to Bruin.

Will Bruin (6) - What impressed me the most about Bruin's game against NY was his passing. He proved that he has the abilities to send in some dangerous balls, which we saw him do when he passed the ball to Driver late in the game. Bruin was unable to put in the kind of performance he did against Montreal though, as he struggled to keep the ball and dribble against New York's backline, and he wasn't shooting very accurately either.

The Subs:

Omar Cummings (7) - Omar Cummings really changed the game - almost in a Man of the Match kind of way. First he drew a foul against New York's best defender Jamison Olave, which led to Olave's sending off, and then he scored the equalizer. What a first goal for him. Just a minute later he nearly draws in the penalty which would have pushed the Dynamo over the top. And let's be honest, it was a penalty.

Andrew Driver (6.5) - Driver may have lost a bit of his step since his injury, but what he did effectively was spread the field. Davis cut inside a bit too much, while Driver's feet were almost always on the sideline chalk, stretching a 10 man NY side and allowing the Dynamo to control possession and exploit defenders caught out of position.

Cam Weaver (6) - Weaver was a magnet for defenders. This may be one of his intangible qualities, but he literally had 2 or 3 defenders on him at all times, which opened up space for players like Driver and Cummings.

Assistant Coaches Wade Barrett and Steve Ralston (6) - The Dynamo assistants helped keep things level going into the next leg of this playoff series as they filled in for the suspended Dominic Kinnear. They were very smart with their substitutions, realizing players like Barnes and Creavalle were largely ineffective, and inserted Cummings and Driver - which proved to be very smart moves.