Quotes & Notes - New York Red Bulls: 3, Portland Timbers: 2 - Aug. 19, 2012

Quotes: Portland Timbers at New York Red Bulls

Portland Timbers Quotes

Timbers general manager/interim head coach Gavin Wilkinson

On New York’s controversial second goal:
I’m in trouble however I answer this aren’t I? You saw what I saw. We’re not allowed to comment on the referee’s performance but that second goal summed it up. We can’t get an answer out of the referee, he won’t tell us. And then you can see the replay very clearly, that he’s blowing the whistle well before the ball has gone into the back of the net. Unless I had a different view to everyone else, the staff, and the players, the whistle was blowing. The whistle was blowing before the ball went into the back of the net and then the decision was changed.

On his team’s performance:
I think this was possibly our best road performance in a year and a half. We came out, we had numerous chances. Their keeper came up with three phenomenal saves. We had a good chance at the end there.

On Bright Dike’s play on his debut:
I think [Bright] Dike did well. I think he tired quite badly in the second half. He kept them honest. What we were looking to do was get in behind, cause some problems, relieve the pressure in the first fifteen and see if we could start to open them up and play. I think we had numerous corners, I think we had numerous chances, and the boys worked extremely hard. When you’re having the season that we’re having, the little things don’t go your way and you can either complain about them or try and fix them and we’re going to go back and try and fix them.

Timbers forward Bright Dike

On his goal:
Sal Zizzo just did a good job of finding me inside the box. I just tried to re-direct it away from the keeper. I think a lot of credit goes to Sal for finding me in the box on that goal.

On whether they did a good job putting pressure on New York’s defense:
I mean, at times we did. But the game was really frustrating when you think of it. We were up 2-0 and then we gave up a 2-0 lead, so all-in-all, it’s kind of a frustrating game.

Timbers midfielder Franck Songo’o

On whether the team is making progress:
We were leading today. We were in position of the game. That was a good feeling but I think after that we dropped. We dropped too much maybe, we let them play.

On how they responded in the second half:
I think we did well in the second half. Like the first 20 minutes I would say, we had some really good chances and we didn’t realize them. But I don’t think they won the game, I think we lost it.

On the emotion building from previous games to their upcoming rivalry game against Vancouver:
Like you said, we played better the last few games. I think we haven’t won in a long time.  Every time we’re close, we’re close, but we don’t win. We take every game as a final so it hurts a lot but you got to try to forget this tomorrow and start focusing on next Saturday.

New York Red Bulls Quotes

Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe

On the confidence the team had at home, despite being down by two:
The way we are performing away we would have lost the game for sure. So, but I think also being in this home stretch, winning most of the games, [we] have to kind of believe that you can win every game, whoever you play. But going two down is normally a little bit too much. To score at least two goals at the end of the first half it was a gift definitely.

On Bill Gaudette’s second-half saves:
He definitely saved us with his saves when they had a chance to also go up 3-2. So, he had a big game for us. 

On if the team was surprised by the play of Portland, given their losing record:
I think this is about, this is what this league is all about. I mean whoever you play, even if you meet teams when they have two games to play after 32 games and they are 25 points behind, they still cause you trouble. I mean, I’ve seen it for almost three years now so we talked about it before the game, we just needed to come out with the same energy [as we did] against Houston. We set the standard against Houston and that’s the way we have to play. They sat back and of course they we close to taking advantage of their breaks. I mean probably because we made too many mistakes in our attacking game just to give them these opportunities.

On if the referee blew a whistle prior to the second goal scored by New York:
I have no idea. They were complaining and if it was a hand ball, they were complaining, so it can’t be about any penalty. [It was] probably something that happened in the 18 yard.

On why he subbed in Kenny Cooper so early in the game:
I mean normally you probably have to go back about 20 years the last time I made a sub after thirty three minutes. Or if it has happened before I’m not sure. But, I mean the way we defended the back four, even if we make mistakes at midfield, I was trying to attack, you have this feeling the back four have to clean up. They still have to save you, even if you make mistakes higher up on the pitch. Of course going two down, a lot of players played under their normal level of standards so it was quite easy just to get Kenny [Cooper] on the pitch, I mean we needed a goal scorer.

Red Bulls defender Heath Pearce

On his game winning goal:
Obviously it’s always an honor to be able to contribute in a way of scoring a goal, and a game winner for your team. The most important thing is that we got three points and, obviously, it wasn’t our best performance tonight, but the most important thing is how we finished and we finished with three points so we’re happy.

On facing Portland:
We expect a tough match from everybody.  They came out and put up a tough match. They had a game plan, they stuck to it. They countered well against us. We didn’t respond well to that in the beginning. Fortunately, we’re a resilient team and we bounced back after a couple goals down.  We went into half time somewhat, well actually extremely, happy that we were tied and felt that we controlled a lot of the game the second half. We were able to score a third goal and get a win.

On a potential level of disappoint in the first-half performance:
Disappointment is not the right word. We have high expectations of ourselves. We have high expectations of ourselves as individuals and as a team and that’s what makes us a good team. We obviously finished the game with three points today which is the most important thing, but as individuals and as a group we didn’t perform up to the standards that we set. We’re not sweating it; we know what we’re capable of. Again, I think disappointment is the wrong word. If this game had finished differently we’d probably use the word disappointment, but there are definitely some things that we should’ve started better with and I’m sure that we’ll address them and get better.

Red Bulls midfielder/defender Jan Gunnar Solli

On the match:
Yeah, you know I think it’s a strange game. They hurt us really bad in the first half and we were really lucky to get two goals and get into the locker room with every chance to make it better and I think we did. Portland were good in closing us down but we got a lot of plays on the sides even though they tried to follow us; both Connor (Lade) and I didn’t have a lot of space in the second half, they gave us options to play and we kept the ball better in the second half and I think we deserved the third goal.

On his two assists tonight:
The first is a really well timed ball. I get the ball from (Sebastien) Le Toux in a deep run and I see a white (jersey) of course I don’t see that it’s Kenny (Cooper) – of course it had to be him – I’m just focusing on don’t get too much pressure, just lift it up over the first guy and there he was and the second one is also a very good timed run from Heath (Pearce) in the box, I just whipped it in and there he was.

Statement from referee Jason Anno

Pool Reporter Question: On the Red Bulls’ second goal, what did you see on the play?

Answer: On the second goal, No. 11 McCarty took a shot and it redirected off a Portland player to No. 17 Cahill who shot and scored.

Pool Reporter Question: Did you blow your whistle?

Answer: Yes, when the ball entered the goal.

Pool Reporter Question: In your view, was it an advantage play?

Answer: Yes.

Notes:

• The Timbers and Red Bulls met for the only time during the 2012 regular season on Sunday. New York leads the all-time MLS series against Portland with a record of 2-0-1, winning both matches at Red Bull Arena.
  
• The Red Bulls are one of just two clubs in MLS who remain unbeaten at home this season; New York is 9-0-3 through 14 matches at Red Bull Arena in 2012.
  
• The Timbers are 3-3-3 against Eastern Conference clubs this season.
  
• After scoring multiple goals on the road for the first time as and MLS club Wednesday, the Timbers on Sunday claimed their first multiple-goal lead on the road with Darlington Nagbe’s goal in the 32nd minute.
  
• With two goals and four credited assists, the Timbers finished with eight offensive points against New York, matching the club’s second-highest points total this season. Portland recorded nine points (3 goals, 3 assists) in a 3-1 win over Philadelphia in its season opener March 12.
  
• The four credited assists against New York is a season high for the Timbers in 2012.
  
• On their two-game road trip, the Timbers scored multiple goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
  
• The Timbers and Red Bulls finished even in shots (12), shots on goal (5) and corner kicks (6).
  
• The match against Red Bulls was the Timbers’ second road match played on a Sunday this season. The Timbers are 2-2-1 in Sunday fixtures in 2012.
  
• Forward Bright Dike made his first MLS start Sunday against New York, and scored the quickest road goal in Timbers MLS history with his strike in the eighth minute.
  
• Dike’s first strike of the season comes exactly one year and two days after he scored his first MLS goal on Aug. 17, 2011, at Sporting Kansas City. 
  
• Additionally, Dike’s goal was just the second scored by Portland this season inside the opening 15 minutes of a match. The other, was by Kris Boyd in the third minute against the LA Galaxy on July 14 at JELD-WEN Field.
  
• Midfielder Sal Zizzo made a second consecutive start Sunday, starting both matches of the two-game road trip. Over the last two games, Zizzo has recorded a goal and two assists.
  
• Zizzo’s two assists against the Red Bulls was the third multiple-assist performance by a Timbers player this season, joining Jack Jewsbury (March 12) and Eric Alexander (March 31) to have accomplish the feat.
  
• After scoring the equalizer against Toronto FC on Wednesday, midfielder/forward Darlington Nagbe scored in a second straight match, tallying in the 32nd minute against New York. He became the second Portland player to score in back-to-back matches this season. Boyd was the first, scoring against Chivas USA on April 7 and then again against the Galaxy on April 14.
  
• Nagbe has five goals on the season, which ranks second on the club in goals scored.
  
• With an assist on the opening goal by Dike, defender Kosuke Kimura earned his third assist of the season (second while with the Timbers), matching a career high he set in 2010 while with the Colorado Rapids.
  
• Kimura was forced to leave the match due to injury in the 56th minute, taking a knock to the face by Red Bulls midfielder Tim Cahill; Kimura was replaced by Lovel Palmer, who just returned from international duty with Jamaica. Palmer featured in Jamaica’s 2-0 win over El Salvador on Wednesday.
  
• Making his 195th career MLS start Sunday, midfielder Jack Jewsbury surpassed 18,000 minutes played in his MLS career, joining a short list of only 20 other active MLS players to have played 18,000 or more minutes.
  
• Designated Player Diego Chara made his 50th appearance for the Timbers on Sunday against New York. He’s started in 49 of his 50 appearances since his club debut April 23, 2011. Chara becomes the fourth player in Timbers MLS history to reach the milestone.
  
• Chara was issued his eighth caution of the season in second-half stoppage time against New York. As a result, he will miss the Timbers’ upcoming match against Vancouver due to a league-imposed suspension for caution accumulation.
  
• Midfielder/defender Rodney Wallace also reached a career milestone Sunday, appearing in his 75th career MLS match – 36 of those have come as a member of the Timbers.
  
• Midfielder Franck Songo’o started Sunday against New York, returning to Starting XI after missing Wednesday’s draw against Toronto FC due to a one-game, league-imposed suspension for caution accumulation.