D.C. United 1-1 Houston Dynamo: Player Ratings

D.C. United was looking to win to regain first place in the Eastern Conference following the New York Red Bulls' win Friday night. It wouldn't be easy, and the team seemed to do well during their game Saturday, but ultimately left more points on the table in a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo. So how did the Black and Red rate?

Andrew Dykstra - 6

Saw a lot of work, but was far closer to form than he was in February and couldn't be faulted exclusively for the game tying goal. Hope a lot of folks are doing a mea culpa on him.

Taylor Kemp - 5

It was nice that he managed to conduct the dummy that froze Tyler Deric enough which led to the goal. But his passing was a bit off the mark, to say nothing of whatever he was doing that led to Rico Clark banging in the rebound for the Houston goal.

And in a bit of horn tooting/foreboding, here's what Jason said at halftime, so blame him:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DCU?src=hash">#DCU</a> didn&#39;t start well, but I&#39;m pleased with most of the last 20 minutes. Looking a bit vulnerable defensively on the left though.</p>&mdash; Jason (@chestrockwell14) <a href="https://twitter.com/chestrockwell14/status/589578689081434112">April 18, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Bobby Boswell - 5

Whether you want to call him #WhiteRooney or #WhiteRonaldo, he was forward a bit more than usual (though not compared to previous games). Positioning was wonky on the cross that led to the Bruin header...that led to the goal. Also could have very easily been shown a yellow for fouling (of all people) Nathan Sturgis, chose to question the enhancement. But at least helped with some intel on the goal so win some lose some or something.

Kofi Opare - 5

Breaking up of plays better than last week, but like last week, was also outworked on a header (admittedly, Will Bruin isn't much of an aerial slouch) that led to the goal. Still, can we get back to basics here?

Sean Franklin - 5.5

Passing was decent, couldn't do much more on the cross from Brad Davis that led to the goal. Guess if I'm looking at the back four, he was probably the least egregious of the bunch. Moving on.

Chris Rolfe - 7

Another night of good distribution both on the left and at forward, and most likely called the bank on the goal. His crosses were on point, but I would hope that some teammates could get to the end of them. Not his fault, but it is starting to feel like these efforts are getting wasted.

Davy Arnaud - 5

Distribution was not that special, and against Clark, Sturgis et al it was pretty much going to be a pitfight from the get go. Maybe a slight fault for letting Clark slide in to bang home the rebound, hope that it not a thing now.

Perry Kitchen - 6.5

The Man of the Match for the midweek USA-Mexico game held his own and some of the Dynamo players to boot. Very much earned the yellow he got for fouling Giles Barnes, his distribution and presence in the middle was with little complaint on the night.

Michael Farfan - 5.5

Another night of sneaky good distribution, shots were okay, though ultimately would have liked to seen more from him. I would presume he gets one more start in Vancouver so DeLeon doesn't retweak his 'tightness' on the turf but then what?

Chris Pontius - 5

Led the team in shots, but I feel like once he saw 90 minutes last month his performances started dropping off the table, and there is another one. Passing was isubpar, touches in the area were too many and off-target, should have been subbed out at some point in the evening. What's up, Chris?

Jairo Arrieta - 5

Forced Deric into making a save or two, but past that, not all that much. His 3 offside calls were more than any other two players combined. Arrieta has been offside once every 32 minutes. By comparison, Lionard Pajoy was offside once every 63 minutes in his MLS career.  Get well (forward corps), get well soon, we hope you will get well.

Nick DeLeon (Sub) - 5.5

Came on for Arrieta, which I found interesting because I was curious how that would get sorted in terms of who would play forward and on the wings. Turns out that most of his action was on the right, with occasional sprinting battles with Damarcus Beasley, some won, some lost. Could have had the go-ahead goal once or twice, which was a disappointment. Curious to see how this is sorted next week on the Vancouver turf.

Luis Silva (Sub) - 6

Came on for Farfan, was a little less active than the past two games but managed to have a decent chance late. Here's hoping for continued working his way back into form.

Miguel Aguilar (Sub) - 5

Came on for Rolfe in the 80th, was called for an interesting foul where it began with him losing it because of his size (gotta love PRO), set up a nice though ultimately blocked shot for Silva. Decent.

Man of the Match

Rolfe for the goal and the chance creation.