Player Ratings: Houston Dynamo vs. Tigres UANL Leg 1

The Houston Dynamo followed up their opening round wins of the CONCACAF Champions League with a 0-2 defeat at home to Tigres UANL in the first leg of the Quarterfinals. Despite looking even for most of the match two goals scored just three minutes apart was the difference for Tigres to have the advantage going into the next leg of the round.

The player ratings averaged out pretty fairly for everyone, although some were on the low side for me.

The Top Performers:

Joe Willis, Man of the Match, (7.9) – Joe Willis had himself a night even though the Houston Dynamo were unable to come away with the win. Despite the 0-2 loss, it could have been a lot worse if it weren’t for the heroics by the Dynamo goalkeeper. He made one save against Tigres striker Enner Valencia which saw Valencia 1v1 with Willis. As Valencia fired his shot it nearly beat Willis who had begun his dive in the opposite direction, but he had the awareness to raise his boot and deny Tigres in this instance. Some of his other plays weren’t quite as difficult, but he made things easy on himself by being alert to getting to the ball and stopping the attack.

A.J. DeLaGarza (7) – It’s refreshing having A.J. DeLaGarza back at the right fullback position with teams repeatedly targeting that side of the field when he’s been away. He read opponents very well and stays in front making it difficult for teams to swing in crosses from out wide. He had a pair of tackles and intercepted passes which show what he can do against a quality opponent like Tigres. His passing higher up the field wasn’t as sharp as it usually is, but hopefully that will improve in the next match.

Oscar Boniek García (6.6) – Just when you think there’s no more energy left in the tank for Boniek year after year, he finds more and shows off some of his speed and dribbling through the midfield. Boniek was filling in for the injured Juan David Cabezas alongside Matías Vera and actually put in a good shift on both sides of the ball. Boniek was efficient with the ball rarely having an incomplete pass and he set up teammates with some good penetrating passes of his own. Defensively, he recovered the ball well in Tigres’ half of the field and he made some timely clearances at the top of the box.

Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera (4.7) – I think this rating is a little low given how well the team played for the majority of the game. They were neck in neck with Tigres and it looked like Houston had a legitimate shot at breaking through a few times. I do think at times it looked like the Dynamo needed to send more support higher up the field to help break down the back line of Tigres. If it weren’t for a little bit of poor judgment by Alejandro Fuenmayor to try and make a play instead of staying with his man one goal may not have happened and the second was a golazo from distance.

The Rest of the Starters:

DEF: DaMarcus Beasley (6.3)

DEF: Maynor Figueroa (5.9)

DEF: Alejandro Fuenmayor (6.4)

MID: Matías Vera (5.4)

MID: Tommy McNamara (5.4)

FW: Romell Quioto (4.6)

FW: Mauro Manotas (5.6)

FW: Alberth Elis (5.4)

The Subs:

FW: Marlon Hairston (4.6)

FW: Memo Rodríguez (5)

FW: Ronaldo Peña (5.3)