Playoff Edition Player Ratings: Houston Dynamo vs. the Portland Timbers Part 2

The Houston Dynamo were able to continue their postseason journey with a 2-1 victory over the Portland Timbers this past Sunday which will see them through to the Conference Finals where the Seattle Sounders will be waiting. As I described in the accompanying piece for the Player Ratings, both sides had some injury concerns that affected lineup decisions. The Dynamo came out more confident, but still conceded the opening goal. Their response to that allowed them to play much more like themselves though as they were able to secure the equalizer and game winner.

The ratings overall are close to how I had everybody. I think Mauro Manotas is ranked a little high, and Dylan Remick might be my third choice as a Top Performer as I thought Juan David Cabezas was vital in this game with his eight intercepted passes. Alex is a player I thought under performed for his rating, but it’s not too far off from where I’d have him.

The Top Performers:

Joe Willis, Man of the Match, (8.5) – A huge talking point coming into this game was how Joe Willis will respond to the responsibility of being the starting goalkeeper in a do-or-die playoff game due to the suspension of Tyler Deric. It turns out Willis, who unseated Deric earlier this season in goal, was just fine. In fact, he was outstanding. Portland really didn’t test Willis too much (which should put some of those “it was the turf” ideas to rest), but he did come up with this huge save in the 23^rd minute to keep the Timbers off the score sheet early.

Dylan Remick (8.4) – Remick is another player that was not expected to start as DaMarcus Beasley went down with a training ground injury before the game which opened the door for the very capable backup. While I argued in the “Rate the Players” piece that the cross on Portland’s opening goal should have been closed down better, it was Remick who slipped and let Dairon Asprilla take a touch and put one passed Willis. Remick made up for that four minutes later with a strike of his own that not only equalized the game, but gave the Dynamo an away goal advantage. The strike was spectacular, and I have to point out how good Cabezas was at boxing out which helped create a small amount of room for the shot.

SUB: Mauro Manotas (8.4) – Mauro Manotas came on in the 73^rd minute for Cubo Torres and it wasn’t long before he put his mark on the game. In the 77^th minute, Manotas took a pass near the center circle from Eric Alexander and made one long dribble through the midfield towards the Timber’s goal. He put his head down and blasted a low bouncing shot passed Portland goalkeeper Jeff Attinella in the low, far corner of the net. His goal put the pressure on Portland to not only tie the game back up, but get another goal as well

Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera (7.8) – As I have mentioned before, I think the lineup Cabrera put out was a little too conservative with Alex at LW. While the Dynamo came out stronger than they had in the first leg, they still conceded first before playing up to their own level. Cabrera’s use of subs was smart and even Boniek Garcia’s inclusion makes sense with his level of passing which helped Portland chase the game even more. While I continue to be perplexed by some of Cabrera’s lineup choices, and I believe some part of him just wants as many different iterations as possible, I can’t argue with results.

The Rest of the Starters:

DEF: Philippe Senderos (8.1)

DEF: Adolfo Machado (7.7)

DEF: Jalil Anibaba (7.2)

MID: Juan David Cabezas (8)

MID: Tomas Martinez (7.3)

MID: Eric Alexander (8.3)

FW: Alex Lima (6.7)

FW: Erick “Cubo” Torres (5.6)

FW: Alberth Elis (7.1)

The Subs:

MID: OscarBoniek Garcia (7)

FW: Romell Quioto (6.8)