Houston Dynamo forward Christian Ramirez and midfielder Boniek García have been named to the MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week for Week 29, Major League Soccer announced today.
Both players played crucial roles in Houston’s 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Orlando City SC on Saturday night at BBVA Stadium. The win was Houston’s second in a row at home under interim head coach Davy Arnaud, and it kept the Dynamo’s playoff hopes alive as they head out for a two-game road trip this week.
Ramirez earned Man of the Match honors on Saturday as he set up the equalizing goal with a pinpoint cross in the 70th minute that allowed teammate Alberth Elis to head the ball into the net, and then tapped in the game-winner three minutes later with a crafty run inside the penalty area that allowed him to get on the end of a pass from forward Mauro Manotas in front of an empty net.
Although he didn’t fill up the stat sheet the way that Ramirez did, García was impossible to miss on Saturday night. The 35-year-old Honduran international, who is in the midst of a resurgent season in which he has already set career-highs for games started (27) and minutes played (2,319) covered virtually every blade of grass on the pitch over the course of the match. Playing centrally in Houston’s 4-4-2 alignment, García helped control the pace of the match with a game-high 84 touches and 69 passes. He also contributed three tackles defensively and won three fouls in his 90-minute shift.
The Dynamo head west this week for a pair of road fixtures. First they’ll take on league-leading LAFC Wednesday night at Banc of California Stadium (9:30 p.m. CDT) before traveling to Utah to face Real Salt Lake on Sunday evening (6:30 p.m. CDT). Both matches will be televised live locally on KUBE 57 in English and in Spanish on TeleXitos 47.2. Univision Radio 1010 AM will air both games in Spanish.
