Houston Dynamo vs New England Player Ratings

Houston Dynamo Player Ratings:

Tally Hall (5.5) - Tally Hall really didn't have too much to do tonight which reflects his score, but New England's only goal came after a poor clearance by Hall. Yes the ball should have been cleared before and yes it was Boswell's man that scored, but Hall should have handled the ball better as it was a weak punch right to Sene. Other than that he handled his line well, but still not too much action for him.

Kofi Sarkodie (6) - Sarkodie's 1v1 defending was very strong, particularly towards the end of the match against Lee Nguyen - I didn't think it was a penalty. Sarkodie also moved the ball up the field to Boniek - both back on the same side after what seems like months.

Eric Brunner (6.5) - Brunner put in another strong effort at CB controlling the center of the field with Boswell. Brunner also drew the foul on Ibongo which saw Ibongo earn a 2^nd straight red card against Houston at a crucial stretch of the match.

Bobby Boswell (6) - Boswell anchored the backline and really wasn't too threatened. His one mistake was not marking Sene which led to the Revs goal. Boswell's distribution from the back was also quite good. This Boswell - Brunner CB pairing is turning out very nicely.

Jermaine Taylor (6) - Taylor filled in at LB for Corey Ashe again, and was able to move down the left side of the field and create opportunities for him and others. His headers were off typically, but he was able to pass the ball on the ground well.

Ricardo Clark (7.5) - Ricardo Clark was very active in getting into the attack. He created chances, he made tackles, he took shots, he tracked back to help defend, he countered...the guy was everywhere. Our forwards really need to find ways to score, because the opportunities are being given to them by players like Clark.

Adam Moffat, MotM, (8) - Moffat dropped an Adam Bomb on Shuttleworth, and then found a way, after the Revs tied the game up, to score in bizarre but brilliant fashion. Moffat was in all around beast-mode tackling/dispossessing, getting in opponents faces for diving, and making a goal of the year candidate goal.

Oscar Boniek Garcia (7) - Boniek could have been the offensive piece that we had been missing during our slump, something I'll look into whenever I do the aggregated June player ratings (June was bad m'kay). Boniek provides amazing pace on and off the ball, gets back to defend, and knows how to connect well with players like Ricardo Clark.

Andrew Driver (6.5) - Driver filled in again for Brad Davis who is out with a nagging hamstring injury, and helped push the tempo up top. Driver seemed off in some of his distribution, and he wasn't as effective as our central midfielders.

Giles Barnes (6) - Barnes had a quiet night. He never really felt comfortable on the ball, and had difficulty creating opportunities. That could be because Weaver had an off night, or he wasn't used to Clark and Moffat pressing the attack the way they did. Still...awkward

Cam Weaver (5.5) - Weaver got the start due to a late injury to Omar Cummings, another setback for him. Instead of making the best of the opportunity, he disappeared. Weaver normally provides moderately good to very good hold up play and we recently saw his passing game and touch improve. None of those things really showed up, and Weaver looked a lot like Bruin does at times - stranded on an island.

The Subs:

Brian Ching (-) - Entered at the 90^th minute and didn't see much of the ball.

Warren Creavalle (-) - Ditto for Creavalle

Dominic Kinnear (6.5) - Kinnear took his revenge on the Revs for beating us at home. The problems among our forward crop still persist, but improved play in the midfield has to be a huge positive to take away from this game. Kinnear had enough confidence in his starting squad to play out the game until the 90^th minute, which ended up paying off.