Player Ratings: Seattle Sounders FC Dominate in Road Win vs. Houston
Jingle Bells were sung in glorious fashion on Saturday night as the Seattle Sounders continued their dominating regular season record versus the Houston Dynamo.
Head coach Brian Schmetzer went back to his 4-2-3-1 after a big game at home against St. Louis last weekend, and it worked wonders with Albert Rusnak and Ryan Kent starring in the win. Danny Musovski joined some rare company as he scored in his fifth straight game, and the midfield continued to look like the dominant position group we are used to seeing with this Sounders team.
Coming out of another lopsided victory, here are the full player ratings from the 4-1 win in Houston:
Stefan Frei - 6
Frei didn’t have a ton to do on Saturday night, but he definitely could have done better on the Houston goal. It started with a free kick given up about 30 yards away out wide, and the angle that was presented is always a tough one for goalkeepers to judge, and definitely a teasing ball in from Jack McGlynn. Instead of staying on his line, he could have come and claimed the cross out of the air and avoided a header from basically the goal line happening. Other than that misjudgment, he was solid and made a couple of other big saves.
Stefan Frei doing Stefan Frei things 🤩 pic.twitter.com/MM0fp5dj5u— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) May 11, 2025
Yeimar - 6
After a couple rough performances for the Sounders veteran, Yeimar had somewhat of a comeback effort on Saturday night. The yellow card in the 34th minute was avoidable and most likely led to his early departure to try and avoid Seattle going to a man down, but he didn’t make any big time mistakes that led to big chances for Houston.
Kim Kee-Hee - 7
Kee-Hee has looked the part since he started becoming a regular name on the team sheet, and Saturday was no exception. He seems to have picked up right where he left off with Yeimar, as they were partners in the 2019 season, and with the switch to the back 4 with traditional outside backs, both him and Yeimar looked much more comfortable with their positioning.
Nouhou - 6
Saturday was an uncharacteristically uneventful game for Nouhou. Though he did his job and was positionally sound, he didn’t jump off the page on offense, but didn’t need to. This might seem like a negative for a lot of players, but for Nouhou, it’s a massive positive, as he is showing signs of maturing and having a better sense of what his team needs from him to win games.
Alex Roldan - 8
Simply put, Roldan was one of the best players in the match against Houston. Usually you associate him with being able to get forward and create chances from the defensive position, but it was his defensive effort that gives him the excellent rating this time around. Ezequiel Ponce and Ondrej Lingr are two of the more formidable attackers in MLS, and they were completely shut down from the right side because of him.
Cristian Roldan - 8
Roldan had probably his most impressive performance of the season against Houston on Saturday. He was absolutely everywhere on the pitch, and it honestly seemed like there were two of him on the pitch at times. His ability to cover so much ground in the middle of the field, especially on the defensive side of the ball, has given Obed Vargas the ability to roam further forward and use his skills on the offensive side of the ball more freely. He completed the most passes in the match, he was the most fouled player in the match, and he won the most duels in the match, about as “CR7” of a performance as it gets.
Obed Vargas - 7
As mentioned earlier with Cristian Roldan, with him locking down the defensive duties of the central midfield position, Obed has been given the freedom to get further forward and influence the game in that way. It hasn’t come without difficulty whatsoever, but Obed’s ability on the ball is helping Seattle hold the ball in more advanced positions for longer periods of time. Even if he isn’t blowing it out of the water with goals or assists, the team as a whole is enjoying their most productive stretch of the season and it isn’t a coincidence it also falls in the time that Obed has had more influence in the attack.
Paul Rothrock - 6
In a relatively surprising inclusion in the starting 11, Rothrock played a good first half before being taken off before half time. He is unlucky not to be credited with the assist for Musovski’s first goal, as his cross was deflected by a defender, but it was excellent wing play nonetheless to take it off the right side and put in an early cross that met Musovski, who was able to put it away in the net.
Ryan Kent - 8
His first start for Seattle brought lots of expectation and it’s impressive to say that Kent delivered. He brings an extra element that Seattle has been missing lately with a form of directness to his style of play. Seattle is known for being very connected in how they possess the ball, with lots of players who can get involved in the buildup and combine with each other, but especially since Jordan Morris has gone down injured, the Sounders have been missing someone who stretches the field and uses his speed to get in behind the defense and get shots and crosses off, especially out wide. Kent brings that element and has been a revelation since joining the team.
Ryan Kent goes crazyyyyyyyy pic.twitter.com/opsL0E9rBp— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) May 11, 2025
Albert Rusnak - 9
The Man of the Match was undoubtedly Rusnak with his two goals. It seems he is much more comfortable in the 4-2-3-1 as a true central attacking midfielder with the ability to roam and create - think Nicolas Lodeiro in his prime. He has shown an exceptional ability to find the perfect pass that sets up his teammates, but his eye for goals hasn’t been talked about enough. Even though both of his finishes were relatively straightforward, it was the IQ to get to the spot and the timing he showed to do it at just the time the ball arrived is a tough skill.
Danny Musovkski - 8
Obafemi Martins, Fredy Montero, Raul Ruidiaz, and now Danny Musovski. That is the list of players that have scored in five straight games. That is a who’s who of elite Sounders strikers in their MLS history so if that shows anything, it’s that the roll Musovski is on right now is special. Most of his goals are what you would call “poachers goals” and that isn’t an insult at all. It goes to show that it isn’t all about these insanely skillful goals that gets you production in this league, it’s about being in the right spot, getting in dirty areas, and making runs.
That pass from Paulie 👀
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That finish from Moose 🫎
Danny Musovski gives us the 1-0 lead! pic.twitter.com/CTp6969c7t— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) May 11, 2025
Pedro de la Vega - 8
The Argentine came on and changed the game, quite literally. With his assist within minutes of getting subbed on, de la Vega showed his ability that Sounders fans have been waiting to see since he arrived ahead of the 2024 season. It wasn’t just the assist, as he was involved the whole second half. Did the red card to Houston have something to do with it? Possibly, but there have been many instances when a team gets a red card but because they just end up sitting back, they actually become harder to score on, and that wasn’t the case on Saturday.
A dream start to the second half 🤩
Pepo finds Rusnák for the 2-1 lead! pic.twitter.com/mrgQvS8GmO— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) May 11, 2025
