D.C. United 2-1 New England Revolution: Player Ratings

D.C. United was playing a New England Revolution squad that was rearing to go and close the game between them and the first place Black and Red. And they were well on their way to doing so, but to borrow from a book, Age and Guile beat Youth, Innocence and (in the case of New England) several bad haircuts, en route to a a come from behind win, 2-1 over the Revs. With that, let's get to rating!

Poor marking beginning to end on the first goal, but it was his save later in the half on a wide open Chris Tierney that could have very well iced the game for New England. Then again, Bill Hamid has no tolerance for such foolishness.

His play early on against Teal Bunbury was, in a word, intriguing. I mean, the blueprint of having New England's wingers bang on both fullbacks was on point early on, and Kemp did give away three inches of height and 20 pounds, if team listings are to be believed. But he held his own as the game went on (dealt with the speed all night) and served as a bit of a symbol on the game in general.

Led the team in clearances again, but was late to get to Charlie Davies on the first goal and a step up on Bunbury could have been disastrous in the first half. Also like Kemp, got better in the second half. Marked him down a tinier bit because I'd like to think expectations for Birnbaum should be higher, but I can go either way on it.

Nobody else had more touches and was more accurate in passing on the night, even got in a nice shot outside the 18 that reminded us of his #WhiteRonaldo brilliance. Also he made fun of Steven Streff:

Image that I'll have forever burned into my mind: @bobbyboswell sitting on the floor of the locker room and laughing at my pink shoes #dcu

— Steven Streff (@streffsoccer) June 22, 2015

But seriously, best defender among the back four Sunday.

Dealt with Juan Agudelo on the other side of the field until Bunbury was subbed off, but still had a moment or two of absentmindedness (read: the chance Tierney had), and was a tiny bit better offensively than Kemp as he got more into the game.

Led the team in passing accuracy and got a secondary assist on the first goal, though was on the second fewest passes of anyone on the team that played 90. Had to spend more time helping out defensively on the right and helped keep things quiet for the most part. About that offensive third though...

Pretty much stayed in a 40 yard area between just outside the D.C. box and the end of the midfield circle in the attacking end. Another solid night passing (though one or two sailed on him), but looked a little shaky in other moments, turning the ball over a couple of times leading to dangerous Revs counters. Imagine he'll be "back" soon enough.

A day ahead of his 35th birthday, he and Lee Nguyen got back to scrapping early and often through the game, picked up a second half yellow which will cause him to miss Wednesday's game against the Chicago Fire, likely giving us a Perry Kitchen-Markus Halsti starting midfield for the first time. There was a sequence after the first D.C. goal around the 75th minute where he was bringing the ball down the middle in the Revs' half, lost it, ran to force the turnover from them, and kept D.C. in possession. In the 75th minute of a tied game. In 95 degree heat. Want to know why Davy Arnaud keeps getting starts?

A late lineup change as Chris Pontius had to go out due to a wonky calf. Found himself helping Kemp out on defense, which negated any real contributions offensively. As one who drove the Conor Doyle "What is he doing there?" Uber for a bit, comparisons to him being "the new Lionard Pajoy" are silly, as they imply expectations for both were similar to begin with. Stop leaning on hyperbole, people.

Distribution was decent, he and Espindola got better as the game went on (particularly as they got rhythm with each other), exploited the Revs subs when they had the chance, found himself in the right place on goal number one, and was confident enough on the spot to bury goal number two. Had seven shots on the game. By comparison, the team combined for six. Nice to have you back, sir, and just ahead of Bridgeview at that.

Passing accuracy was shoddy, second lowest on the team on the night in fact, but had three key passes, and was the primary on the first goal, and crosses would have likely resulted in goals if folks weren't sweating howitzer shells on the night. Is tied for fifth in assists despite playing less than half of the games of those he's tied with, and his .92 assists per 60 minutes is far and away leading any regular starters. There may be some regression to the mean soon, but I sure hope not.

Came on for Doyle in the 52nd and was as spot on a sub as you could hope. Drew the PK when Steve Neumann fouled him, but was running at defenders and serving as a threat for most of the preceding 10 minutes when he had the ball. As players get healthy, when and how to use Miguel Aguilar should prove interesting.

Came on for Rolfe in the 82nd (a primo headband sub), didn't have a lot to do, or more specifically didn't do anything negative on the day. Bring on (presumably) the dual headband attack Wednesday.

Came on for Arnaud in the 88th, did less than Halsti.

Rolfe was the most serious offensive threat on the day even if he didn't score. But he did. Also, the save Hamid made (and his general presence in the game) should warrant honorable mention.