D.C. United decided to not give up a goal in the first minute of Sunday's match with the Chicago Fire, so that in and of itself was progress, right? Well, how about four goals scored to go along with it junior? No, seriously! A 4-0 win over the Fire will do that to a person, so let's make with the numeric rating thing?
Bill Hamid - 7.5
Spent the international break watching young bucks Tim Howard and Brad Guzan play for the United States team, rung up his eighth clean sheet, had some nice work, including a nice save in the first half to keep things square between the teams.
Taylor Kemp - 8
Thought he would have been picked on for his lack of speed, and all he did was lead the team in tackles (6), interceptions (5) and tied for second in clearances (6) with Opare. Fairly quiet from a passing perspective, but might have been his best defensive performance this year.
Kofi Opare - 7
Had his scraps with Gilberto on the game, had a couple of slips, one that was almost fatal early in the second half (Kemp's back heel clearance, BTW), passing was fine, tied with Kemp in clearances, second in tackles (4). Doesn't want to give his spot up anytime soon.
Bobby Boswell - 7.5
Led the team in clearances, scored a nice goal (#BoswellForGoldenBoot), a tad asleep at the wheel defensively in the first half. The Captain seems to have a snarl with the team right now.
Sean Franklin - 7
Passing was good, particularly on long balls (7 of 10), defensive actions remained high in a minor surprise, and interacted with the attack very nicely. Was a nice effort to complement his one a couple of weeks ago.
Chris Pontius - 7
Speaking of a nice effort to complement his one a couple weeks ago, held off a couple defenders and went around Jon Busch (a move I thought he shouldn't have done but he's the goal scorer), continues winning aerials up front and finding his rhythm with Franklin, Espindola and Rolfe. If he really is back, this is nothing but good news.
Perry Kitchen - 7
An almost 89% passing accuracy day, a key pass, a couple of defensive interactions, and continues to play higher up the field with his center mid partner Halsti. With Davy Arnaud out, Kitchen seems to be assuming his role and doing it decently so far.
Markus Halsti - 7
Perry Kitchen was the most accurate passer on the night. Want to know who second was. In between this duo, nary a peep was heard from Harry Shipp, and his support in back for the center backs should only improve. Oh hey, two decent-ish shots on target to boot.
Nick DeLeon - 7
Assisted on Espindola's goal, also tied with Espindola on key passes for the night, two shots, two tackles and three interceptions, and generally all over the field.
Chris Rolfe - 7.5
Three shots, all on goal, played withdrawn forward and drifted between Espindola, Pontius and DeLeon effectively. When he did have the ball he put himself or others in nice spots, did everything possible to remind them all they wanted for him last year was a used ball bag.
Fabian Espindola - 7.5
Hit the corner kick that Boswell put in for the first goal, his cross appeared to go off Lovel Palmer for the third goal, had three shots of his own to pair up with three key passes, passing accuracy was surprisingly good for him compared to the norm.
Substitutes:
Alvaro Saborio - 7.5
Came on for Rolfe in the 75th, only scored a goal again (.48 goals per 90 minutes with D.C. almost doubles his .25 goals/90 with Real Salt Lake), chipped in a key pass and a long ball to boot. Not sure what he plan is with the club going forward, but as a sub at the moment, it seems to be working just fine.
Conor Doyle - 5
Completed one of three passes after coming on for DeLeon in the 82nd, had a foul. Rinse, repeat.
Michael Farfan - 5
Came on for Pontius in the 86th, did the same thing as Doyle, minus the foul.
Man of the Match:
Yes. All of this. More please, for the next 6 to 8 weeks.