Notes and Grades: Crew v. Dynamo

More dropped points at home. The Crew have a 1-3-2 record at Crew Stadium. That's the 2nd worst record in the league next to D.C. United.

• I'm not sure how the staff could tweak the team to score more. They had 22 shots, many from a good angle and decent distance. Only six were on target. That's falls to the players.
• Higuain was everywhere and did everything. He orchestrated countless attacks and tried his hand at a few shots as well. He is trying to earn every cent of his paycheck.
• The rest of the offense tried to work with him, but it was a mixed effort. Meram made some good runs, but flubbed his shots. Oduro didn't get into spots to make a big impact.
• Tchani and Sanchez were a solid pairing again, but Tchani was the defensive bulldog while Sanchez made more of an impact on offense with his accurate passing.
• The defense was generally quite good. Glauber was dominant as he picked off several Houston chances and Gehrig was dependable.
• Barson outshown Wahl. The rookie was in the right spots at the right time and was a big positive on offense. Wahl didn't make much of an impact.

Gruenebaum (6): Good game to keep Houston at one when they had a couple of chances to score against a lesser keeper.
Barson (7): Effective on offense and stalwart on defense. A very bright opening for the home grown talent.
Gehrig (6): Another dependable showing as he worked hard to be in the right spots whether that was blocking shots, intercepting passes, or clearing danger.
Glauber (6): 10 interceptions led the team. He also was dominant in the air.
Wahl (4): OK defensively, but was very quiet on offense.
Sanchez (5): Lost Creavalle on the goal in the six yard box, no excuse there. Otherwise he was effective, but a little reckless on defense. Excellent passing with 2 key passes and 100% rating on his long balls.
Tchani (5): More solid on the defensive side of the game and ranged all over the field. His passing still is a step too slow and lost the ball three times.
Oduro (5): Doesn't look at home on the right and didn't get into too many dangerous positions.
Higuain (7): Outstanding game as he did everything in his power to will the team to win. 8 shots, 4 on target, 7 key passes, 5 long balls, 3 through balls. If the team would finish.
Meram (5): Came out strong as he made several excellent runs off the ball that Higuain was able to feed him. He did have 5 shots, but 0 were on target.
Arrieta (6): Played a solid target forward, 4 key passes, 5 shots, 2 on target. Turned the ball over quite a bit though.
Speas (5): Played 16 minutes, but didn't have much of an impact. 16 touches and only 5 passes.
Schoenfeld (NR): Last minute sub for size.
Warzycha (NR): Last minute sub for size.
Coaching (5): The offense was working and the defense held Houston to only a few chances. The finishing really was the difference. Perhaps earlier subs would have made an impact as the Crew faded towards the end.

Note on Grades: I have set 5 as an average performance. The player had both good and bad events on the field. Under 5 is a disappointing performance. Above 5 is a notable performance.