D.C. United 1-1 Sporting Kansas City: Player Ratings

D.C. United had shut out Sporting Kansas City in their games last year, and even beat them at home for the first time since the glory days of Danny Allsopp. And a early goal was given right back in the first half, and a 1-1 draw left at least one side disappointed. With that, on with the ratings!

Bill Hamid - 6.5

I can't hang the goal completely on him, Dom Dwyer got a Dom Dwyer shot off in a way. Also made some other decent saves from dangerous angles and was generally solid on the night.

Chris Korb - 4.5

Had a couple of nice performances leading up to Saturday night, but lost a bit in no-man's land on the goal, and generally did not do that much when he did have the ball. We might be at the point where we have to bring the 2 car back into the fold.

Bobby Boswell - 6.5

There was little getting by him Saturday, and on a larger level I hope he didn't break Graham Zusi in that head clash. But his passing was good, he and Opare worked fine again and there was a glimpse or two of attacking Bobby for nostalgia.

Kofi Opare - 6

Let Dwyer go for a second that led to the goal, seemed to struggle on occasion with him (and later Krisztian Nemeth). Not sure how credible Steve Birnbaum would have been/is as an option, but am curious to see what happens now that Opare, Birnbaum and Boswell are all healthy, particularly ahead of the schedule over the next two months.

Sean Franklin - 4.5

Passing was decent, even if the crosses were...well. Defensively was average, though could have handled his positioning on the goal better. And can we go back to not having him take set pieces again?

Nick DeLeon - 5

Distribution and accuracy were disappointing, and did not help his cause with a lack of purpose on the field at times. Could go either way on the ball he skied over the net that could have been the go-ahead goal. At the game, thought he couldn't do that much about it considering his position. But not a good night for the outside midfielders.

Perry Kitchen - 6.5

Kitchen's 87% passing accuracy was tops amongst all field players not named Soni Mustivar, he got balls to the outside (the outside mids were another story) and generally locked down the middle part of the field, despite one turnover deep which could have been fatal. Laid that pass on a rope to Pontius that led to the goal. To sum up his last three weeks, Charles Boehm:

Perry Kitchen is ascending to the #nextlevel before our eyes. By which I mean one of the top 5 US-eligible central midfielders alive.

— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) May 10, 2015

Davy Arnaud - 5.5

Played closer to Kitchen and also held his own, and we wonder if he still has any of Roger Espinoza's studs left in his ankle. But he was passing the ball well and was generally a pest to Roger and Benny Feilhaber most of the night, and the joint effort was commendable.

Chris Pontius - 5.5

We like that says he's getting there vis a vis form, and his work in setting up the goal was nice. Chance creation was decent, passing accuracy OK, though not like last week.

Chris Rolfe - 5

Seemed a step ahead of some of the Sporks defenders (had Anibaba falling down) and a couple of his teammates (had a nice scorpion-ish pass that was intercepted). However, seemed to fade a bit as the second half went on, thought he even might have tweaked his ankle around the 69th minute which hopefully won't be a nagging injury.

Jairo Arrieta - 5

Scored the goal which if we're honest had a slight ugly finish to it, but tried to involve himself as much as he could. Was a sequence where he was offside then minutes later, stayed on/held back, which wasted a nice pass from Rolfe. Speaking of which, doesn't hold the exclusive lead in offside calls anymore (thanks Gabriel Torres), so that's nice.

Luis Silva (Sub) - 5

Yay, first sub! Yay, played more than 20 minutes! Um, could have started? After watching the game, you could see why at least. Passing was OK, but was never any threat offensively, in part because he was a little deeper in midfield than in the past.

Michael Farfan (Sub) - 5

Came on for Rolfe in the 74th, almost stole the points at the end with a shot just wide. Passing was fine, played more on the left side of the field when he did come on, otherwise, eh.

Miguel Aguilar (Sub) - 5.5

Came on for DeLeon in the 88th and was OK, tried to take runs when he had the chance.

Man of the Match

Kitchen, with a nod to Party Boy as he gets closer.