Houston Dynamo Player Ratings vs. the Portland Timbers

Quick Thoughts:

1) The team needs to learn to hold a lead. While one half of the match showed the Dynamo's ability to thrive under the pressure of a difficult environment to play in, the other half showed them crumble under the pressure of holding onto 3 points.

2) Garrido is now 2^nd in the league in fouls committed, Bruin is in 9^th on scoring, and Davis is in 6^th on assists. Basically in this match, Garrido fouled too often, Bruin scored, and Davis got an assist (all of them padded their stats in those categories).

3) This was a decent result and if the Dynamo can manage a win at Colorado the road trip isn't quite the disaster that many would think it is (although a loss might confirm it). Portland is one of the toughest teams in the league at home and the Dynamo brought it early, but clearly ran out of steam...or couldn't hold up to the pressure. Houston will need to do more against the Rapids.

Houston Dynamo Player Ratings:

Tyler Deric (6.5) - Deric managed 5 saves against a Portland Timbers offense that had more than its fair share of opportunities on goal. Perhaps he should've saved Darlington Nagbe's goal that went between his legs, but the defense as a whole could be placed at fault for that one for allowing the chance. Deric had a few other good stops, but it's really tough to blame too much of this result on him.

Kofi Sarkodie (5.5) - Sarkodie was back in the starting lineup again, this time at his familiar RB position, but looked lost at times especially on Nagbe whom he left completely open to score Portland's first goal. While Sarkodie was in the right place at the right time to intercept a number of passes, he never saw a lot of the ball to support the offense with crosses.

Raúl Rodríguez (6.5) - Was the rock of defense and made 7 intercepted passes, 3 tackles, several crucial clearances, and blocked 2 kicks. Despite one of the best passing ratings of the year for a starter, Rodríguez nearly turned over a goal by playing a little too casually out of the back.

David Horst (6.5) - Like Rodríguez, Horst had numerous intercepted passes and clearances which helped the Dynamo keep it clear from the back, but at times lacked composure against the creative Timbers offense.

Sheanon Williams (5.5) - Williams didn't look as in control over the left side of the field in this game as he has on the right side in his previous starts for the Dynamo. While he still managed decent defensive stats, including 3 blocked shots, he never partnered well on the left of the field with Alex Lima.

Rasheed Olabiyi (6) - In Olabiyi's first Dynamo start he showcased an excellent first touch with the ball and good vision up field, but where he struggled was defensively against a creative and offensive minded Timbers side.

Luis Garrido (5.5) - Garrido made a few big defensive plays and moved the ball well inside the Dynamo half, but was often overzealous with his challenges which led to 5 fouls called against him and a yellow card.

Alex Lima (6) - While he helped win the ball in key areas around the midfield to push offensive efforts, Alex didn't link up nearly as well with Williams as he had with DaMarcus Beasley on the left side of the field. Alex's ability to push forward, too often at times, provided Portland outlets to exploit and his ambitious pressing nature could have used a touch of patience in his defending.

Oscar Boniek Garcia (7) - Boniek got his start for the first time since his departure with the Honduran National Team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Boniek looked alive in his return to his starting role and linked well with the players around him offensively which helped him generate the game's first goal. He passed very well across the field, helped recovery the ball defensively, and scored a goal from a difficult angle.

Brad Davis (6.5) - Davis was once again effective from the "hybrid" CAM/withdrawn forward role as his creativity and passing accuracy helped the Dynamo create opportunities on offense and move the ball into safety on the defensive end. His assist to Will Bruin was excellent largely due to the excellent timing of Bruin's run, but it came in front of plenty of defenders who could have snuffed it out had the pass not been perfectly placed.

Will Bruin, MotM, (7.5) - The Dancing Bear has come back to us. Bruin answered many of his critics with an outstanding offensive performance that included a brilliant goal across the mouth of goal and an assist that he flicked perfectly to Oscar Boniek Garcia. Bruin's efforts against the Timbers helped land him on the MLS Team of the Week.

The Subs:

Nathan Sturgis (6) - Came on for Olabiyi early into the 2^nd half, Sturgis provided a few strong challenges around the midfield area, but got caught up field a tad too often which helped create a few chances for Portland to exploit.

Erick Torres (5.5) - Cubo came on for Bruin in the 72^nd minute and really struggled to be an impact. Cubo passed the ball well and managed to draw a foul committed in the 91^st minute by Diego Chara, who earned a straight red card for the play, but largely couldn't help the offense go and was limited to a single blocked shot.

Leonel Miranda (N/A) - Came on in the 89^th minute for Brad Davis and despite a few good passes, Miranda didn't really see enough of the ball to merit a rating.

Coach Owen Coyle (6) - The 1^st half of Coyle's performance is likely hovering around an 8 because up 2-0 away is pretty close to ideal, but his 2^nd half performance really deserves a 4 so I met in the middle with 6. Defensively this team was not prepared for the creative and resilient offense of the Timbers. The average field position for their team had only 2 players in their own half which speaks to the level of pressure their defenders and midfielders applied to our club.  However, offensively, the goals scored against a tough team in a difficult place were brilliant. It showcased our own creativity and ability to score, but holding a lead needs to be a point of focus in coming games.