Revolution 2-0 Houston Dynamo: Player Ratings and Man of the Match

Before I get to the ratings, I wanted to give a shout out to Tyler Deric's effort in this one. Because under normal circumstances, the New England Revolution would've routed the Houston Dynamo over the weekend.

Deric was officially credited with four saves (seems like he had more) but almost every single one seemed to stop a goal worthy attack from the Revs. So while the scoreline didn't indicate a dominant performance from the Revs, it was pretty close and without Deric in net and the weather delays, the Revs could've had this one wrapped up long before the late counter that led to their second goal.

A more telling stat of the Revs dominance on the day - Houston had just one shot on target out of seven, and half of their shots were from outside the box as well. The offense generated numerous scoring chances and the defense allowed barely anything that tested Shuttleworth, that is a good day.

Bobby Shuttleworth (6) - When your best save comes against your own player, you didn't have a lot to do in the match. Very alert to palm away an errant clearance from Farrell, missed a punch that thankfully (or mysteriously) went out for a corner but otherwise a quiet night thanks to his backline.

Chris Tierney (6.5) - The Revs never did get their crossing down in this one, and at 75% passing Chris was the only Revs defender below 80% for the game. But Tierney was still a force down the left flank on the attack, combining several times with Fagundez to create nice chances only to see Dynamo keeper Tyler Deric come up with big saves.

Jose Goncalves (8.5) - A massive and well taken goal for the big center back to go along with a stellar defensive day (2 tackles, 2 interceptions and 6 clearances) and did a wonderful job shutting down Cubo Torres late in the game as Houston tried to rally.

Andrew Farrell (7.5) - Yes, there was that aforementioned near own goal, but aside from that one error Farrell was his usual self and even got to venture forward at one point down the right flank.

Jeremy Hall (7) - Every game he seems to get more comfortable and confident on both sides of the ball, though he seemed to struggle late with an injury his veteran presence in the back has been one of the sparks in the Revs recent form.

Jermaine Jones (5) - This is more of an "incomplete" grade since Jones' day was likely shortened and stalled by the weather delays. He's still getting back to full fitness, still trying neat things in the midfield that don't always work but three aerial wins in just one half is a big bonus for a Revs midfield that doesn't win a lot of them.

Scott Caldwell (6) - Mostly tidy passing to the advanced midfielders, Scotty was able to spread the ball around but but with the wingers doing most of the heavy lifting in this one he spent most of his time recovering loose balls in the midfield.

Diego Fagundez (7.5) - These are the types of games Diego needs to have more often, and it's a shame he didn't find the scoresheet in this one. A menace the entire game down the left, nifty moves freed up Tierney more than once and had a blistering shot saved by Deric in the first half.

Lee Nguyen (7.5) - A wonderful counterattacking run in the late stages to set up Agudelo but Lee's form continues to climb towards his 2014 season. Another Revs player who could've had a goal were it not for the heroics of Deric in goal, Nguyen and the Revs are heating up at the right time.

Kelyn Rowe (7) - Like Diego, he does a little bit of everything but his recoveries in the midfield were much higher up than his wing partner. Rowe capped a nifty run early in the second half by clanging the crossbar twice with help from Deric and it was a shame he had to be pulled with 15 to go because of an injury.

Charlie Davies (6) - His hold up play was great (see his lay off to Diego) but the Revs just weren't able to get anything from their crossing in this one and it showed as Davies only had a handful of touches before being replaced at the hour mark.

Daigo Kobayashi (6.5) - Another veteran who's benefiting from extended playing time, Daigo is just a solid all-around option in the midfield and supported the attack very well. His tackle in the final minutes set up the clinching counter attack.

Juan Agudelo (7.5) - Wonderful effort to get into a great position on his goal, finished it well past an unsettled Deric to clinch the points. With the Revs looking to close the game out he did a lot of work to maintain possession with safe passing.

Teal Bunbury (5) - Decent defensive shift but never found a rhythm in this one, we'll see how serious the injury to Rowe is as Teal's the likely replacement in the lineup if Kelyn isn't good to go after the bye week.