Match Musings: FCD drops a heartbreaker 2-0 to Quakes

Apologies for being a tad late on this one…my weekend got the best of me.  Nonetheless, not much worth noting, considering our beloved Red Stripes fell Saturday night to the Chris Wondolowski show at Pizza Hut Park.  Last year’s Golden Boot winner put on a finishing clinic in the first half, netting two goals in the first 23 minutes of a 2-0 loss to the Quakes.

Perhaps I’m giving him too much credit.  Shotty defense was at least partially responsible for both goals.  Regardless, FCD fell down early in a fashion not seen in two seasons, and couldn’t recover from the San Jose side that decided to simply defend for the rest of the night.  It was a disappointing night, to be sure, but one that’s forgivable this early in the season.

Here are my game grades…abbreviated due to their lateness:

FCD 1 – 1 Chicago Fire

Game grades: (FYI, I start at 5 and work up/down.)

Kevin Hartman – 7 – Really not much he could’ve done about either goal, but it may have been worse.
Jair Benitez – 7 – I am definitely not Benitez’s biggest fan. That said, I’ll eat some crow when it’s warranted.  It was a solid, troublemaking night for the Colombian.
Zach Loyd – 4 – He definitely wasn’t bad the whole game, but the times he was, it cost us big time.  We’ve seen better from Loyd…and we’ll see a lot better in the future.  No need to worry.
George John – 5 – Tough night for John.  He’s an extremely hard worker, and you can’t blame him too much when he’s working with so many moving parts.
Jackson – 6 – An unfortunate change from last week.  Instead of an impact, he was mostly invisible.
Daniel Hernandez – 6 – Another not bad, not great, performance from the captain.  Give him some credit for covering for others more often than he should have to.
Ricardo Villar – 5 – Got the start in place of Avila at winger.  Unfortunately for him…he made about the same impact Avila does…good passing, no defense, no major impact.
Eric Alexander – 6 – He’ll be much better off when we stop comparing him to Dax.  Had another solid night in the midfield.
Marvin Chavez – 6 – So fast it’s ridiculous.  I’m excited to see when he starts getting proper service.
David Ferreira – 6 – All over the field as usual, but never really got anything going against a staunch Quake defense.
Milton Rodriguez – 4 – He finishes the chances (especially the 1v1 at the 60 minute mark) that he’s given, we walk away with a tie or better.  Tough night for Milton.

Substitutions:

Fabian Castillo – 7 - Very exciting to see the debut of our new Colombian wonderkid.  He immediately made his presence felt, making runs on multiple defenders at once.  He’s fast, and will be very dangerous.
Eric Avila – 5 – Seemed to be motivated after losing his starting spot.  Made some good passes and showed an overall positive work rate.  As always, and maybe to his detriment, he remains a great bench impact player.
Ruben Luna – NA

So that’s it for this week.  Any thoughts?

Category: Game Analysis