FC Dallas Player Ratings Vs Sporting KC
By Curry Goff
In front of the home faithful at Toyota Stadium, FC Dallas put on quite the show in a convincing 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City this past Saturday. This game had it all: great team goals, penalty saves, impressive work rates, and an incredibly important three points.
On top of that, there were some standout performers in the win for FCD. Below, we break down each player’s rating based on their individual performance against SKC (1 being the worst and 10 being perfect).
Chris Seitz 7
His penalty save in and of itself earns Chris a 7. With the potential momentum shift of scoring a late penalty and pushing for an equalizer, Sporting KC’s penalty (which was admittedly soft) could have seen them push forward and salvage a point. Seitz’s save on Dom Dwyer’s spot kick was massive, and overshadowed a somewhat shaky first half that saw Seitz fail to save a shot to his near post (never mind the awful defending in front of him).
Atiba Harris 5
Harris is not the most assured of right backs. He is transitioning into that role and still seems a bit out of place at times. He didn’t have any major hiccups in Saturday’s game, but his performance begs the questions of if and when Je-Vaughn Watson will come back into the team.
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Zach Loyd 7
Loyd had a solid game without making too much of himself. He made some key interventions in the final third and showed a lot of pace when it was necessary. He is continuing to prove his versatility and ability to put in solid performances game after game.
Matt Hedges 8
The center back pairing of Loyd and Hedges is proving lethal over the first two games. If you can get past the speedy Loyd, you find yourself against a giant in Hedges who is as technically gifted a center back as you will find. The key matchup coming into this game was Hedges/Dwyer. The USMNT member made light work of the Canadian forward and never seemed to miss a beat.
Moises Hernandez 6
I’m still not entirely keen on Hernandez. Along with Harris, I think the fullback position is the weakest part of this otherwise strong FCD squad. He did have incredibly adept moments where he shut down Zusi on the right flank. Even with this, however, his closing down (or lack thereof) of Roger Espinoza for the Sporting KC goal was pretty lackluster. The jury is still out on Hernandez for me, but he showed some good moments that give me hope moving forward.
Victor Ulloa 7
Ulloa had a pretty understated game. But, for a player in the central defensive midfield role, that’s pretty much every game for you. With that said, Ulloa did what he needed to do: he broke up play in the middle of the pitch and provided the defensive cover to allow Michel to move forward and help in attack. A solid performance in my book.
Michel 7
The dead ball maestro proved once again that no one in the league can take a corner or a free kick quite like him. He nearly scored from two corners, provided an assist for Blas after another, and dispersed the ball with pinpoint accuracy. After missing his distribution in the first match, Oscar Pareja will have a tough time leaving Michel on the bench again.
Fabian Castillo 9
Castillo was dangerous from the start. Darting in and out of defenders, the young winger always looked hungry for a goal. His tenacity down the wing helped create the first goal while his composure in front of goal saw him round the keeper for the third. Castillo is making an early case for MVP, especially if he continues the fine run of form he’s had over the first two games.
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Mauro Diaz 6
Not his best game. He had moments where he showed his brilliance on the ball, but the final product was lacking just a bit. On a night where the rest of his attacking mates were brilliant, Diaz failed to produce any of the magic that the FCD faithful know he is capable of.
Tesho Akindele 8
Like Castillo, Tesho was a threat from the start down the opposite wing. Always looking to take on defenders, he showed his ability to cut in on his left or take the ball down the wing on his right. His holdup play and layoff to Blas for the first goal was the perfect decision at the perfect moment. Akindele truly is a great combination of soccer IQ and technical skill.
Blas Perez 9
The birthday boy might be the old guy on the team, but his play over the first two games has been far from stale. He is the best finisher that FCD has and proved so with his two goals on Saturday. He was an open header away from a hat trick, but you can’t complain. The Panamanian is on fire in front of goal and has almost single-handedly seen FC Dallas to the top of the MLS table.
(Not included in rankings: Bekker, Barrios, and Hollingshead all came in after the 60th minute and did not play enough to get a full ranking.)