Quotes: Portland Timbers vs. FC Dallas
Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On managing the game:
“I thought in the second half in particular, we managed the game brilliantly. Even if you just look at our maturation as a team in one week, I thought this game versus the Fire game, we managed the end of the game much better. We're continuing to make progress as a team and that's very important. Games are going to be tight in this league. You would've liked to score that second goal and get a bit more breathing room, but sometimes it doesn't fall. I thought we managed the game much better. They're very good in the box and I thought our backs really did a nice job in the box defending and we managed their set pieces well. It was a good result. “
On Darlington Nagbe's game-winning goal:
"It was a tremendous goal, he's the type of player that you've seen that he can pull off a play like that at times. You wish he'd do it more, but he's capable of that type of goal. I've seen him do it plenty of times. I think it was pretty special for him to score that goal because his mom flew in last night and she doesn't get to see many of his games live. I only think she's seen one or two of his professional games live. She flew in on Friday and she had the chance to see him score that goal, so that makes it pretty special."
On back-and-forth nature of the game:
“It was an exciting game. There were chances, both teams were trying to win and neither team was sitting back. I love that in Schellas's [Hyndman] teams. I think that's why they're doing well is because they attack and they've got some outstanding individual players. You had both goalkeepers standing on their heads, some very creative individual attacking players that were highlighted. I thought [the game had] a lot of possession and flow. I think it's great for the game.”
Postgame Plus: Porter on the supporters
On today’s atmosphere and influence of the fans on the game:
“That was an absolutely incredible atmosphere and probably a big reason why we won the game. Our supporters, I'll say it but others will fight it, are the best in the league and I thought that atmosphere was absolutely incredible. One of my favorite things as the Portland Timbers coach is to walk around the field after a win and to see the faces of our fans and the joy that they have – that's one of the special moments for me being the coach here."
On both teams' attacking mentality:
“I think it's great when teams approach games without fear of losing. I've always felt that's the best way to win, is to play to win. As simple as that sounds, a lot of teams play not to lose. We play to win. It doesn't mean we win every game, but my feeling is if you approach the game the right way then you'll be rewarded. Because you're aggressive and proactive, you put the other team on their back foot and make them react. I think it empowers your team to feel superior versus inferior, so it's a big part of the reason why we play the way we play. Dallas does the same thing. They're a bit different in how they set up, they play with more true wingers that run at you, a little bit more direct. They're very attack oriented and they're aggressive. They play without fear. They're brave. That's the type of team we want to be, too. We want to be a brave team."
On if Kenny Cooper's absence changed the team's approach:
"We saw it on the start sheet, we knew [Eric] Hassli would be up top. I actually thought when they moved [Fabian] Castillo up for Hassli, it actually helped them because he has a bit of pace. When we're up the field, one ball -- if we fall asleep -- we could be punished. I felt more uneasy when Castillo went to that central striker. Those dimensions do play into things. I thought they lost a little bit in the box not having [Blas] Perez, Hassli or Cooper in the game, but we also had guys who weren't here as well. They had guys out, we had guys out, at the end of the day I thought it was a great game. I enjoyed it, I hope the fans enjoyed it and I do think it's good for the league."
Timbers forward/midfielder Darlington Nagbe
On scoring today with his Mom in attendance:
"It was a good goal and she was in town, so that made it even more special. I'm happy we got away with the win."
On his perspective of the game-winning goal:
"I saw Kalif [Alhassan] got it and I just tried to make a run diagonally to clear space for him, but he played the ball and I saw a defender coming in hard. I cut it back and the ball laid out perfectly for me and I just put it in the back corner. I didn't plan it like that, but once I cut it back and I saw the corner I just put it there."
On where the goal ranks on his personal list:
"It's probably No. 1, because other goals we haven't won the game when I've scored."
On how the team managed the lead against FC Dallas:
"I feel like we kept the ball better. It wasn't as good as we wanted it to be when we went up 1-0, but I think we did better than we had done when we've gotten away with the lead."
On the team’s mood at halftime:
"We were calm, we just needed to keep doing what we were doing and they were going to get tired and a goal was going to come. Just keep the shutout and we'd get the win."
FC Dallas Quotes
FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman
On dealing with several absences at the forward position:
“We went in to the game with no strikers. Eric Hassli got injured, and then today I found out I lost Kenny Cooper, and then Blas Perez is with the Panama National Team. Take those three guys and we might have been a little bit different.
“I think we have arguably the best strikers in the league when you look at Eric Hassli, Kenny Cooper and Blas Perez. All three of them on one team; what are the chances that none of them would be available in one game?
“Blas Perez will be back after his last game with Panama, and I think Kenny will be fine depending on the emergency that he’s dealing with. Eric strained his back during the warm up after we had already announced our lineup.”
On Timbers forward Darlington Nagbe’s goal:
“It was a great strike. It was disappointing, we’re not a team that plays on turf and defends on turf. Nagbe did a good job. He’s very good at turning and George [John] was just a little bit too far off of him and he put it exactly where he needed to put it. It was a great goal.”
FC Dallas midfielder Andrew Jacobson
On how the team responded to the adversity of being without several key players:
“I think we responded really well. We slotted Fabian [Castillo] forward, and I thought he did a very good job. Obviously, playing with his back to the goal is not his position, but he moved out of position and did really well.”
On the team’s effort overall:
“I don’t think we ever stopped fighting. It was a good game; two good teams and they just got the goal.”
On what the team will take from the match:
“I don’t think it was a poor game on our part. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way, sometimes it does. We’ll look over it, see what we can take from it and move on. This is a long season. We try and get better every game and sometimes you can get better and not win.”
Notes:
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The Timbers are unbeaten in their last 13 regular-season matches, marking the longest unbeaten run in MLS this season and is a Timbers MLS-club record. The MLS record for longest unbeaten streak is 19 games set by FC Dallas in 2010.
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With a record of 6-1-8 (26pts), the Timbers are two points back of Western Conference-leader FC Dallas and are tied with the Montreal Impact for the third-highest point total in MLS.
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Timbers head coach Caleb Porter is tied with former D.C. United head coach Tom Soehn for the longest unbeaten streak by a first-year MLS head coach in league history at 13 matches; Soehn accomplished the feat during the 2007 MLS campaign.
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The Timbers are unbeaten against FC Dallas at JELD-WEN Field (2-0-1) and are 2-2-3 in the all-time MLS series against the Hoops.
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With the win, the Timbers improve to 5-2-3 in daytime matches at JELD-WEN Field as an MLS side. Portland is unbeaten (4-0-3) in its last seven home day matches since 2012.
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Portland’s defense has recorded its fifth straight shutout at JELD-WEN Field in league play and has not conceded a home goal in 480 minutes dating back to March 9 against Montreal.
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The Timbers have allowed just one goal in its last seven home matches across all competitions.
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The Timbers are unbeaten (5-0-3) when scoring the first goal of a match this season.
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Forward Darlington Nagbe’s goal in the 52nd minute was the Timbers’ 19th second-half goal this season, which leads MLS, and was the club’s league-high ninth goal scored in the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
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Nagbe’s strike was his fifth of the season and fourth in the last eight games. He is now tied with midfielder Will Johnson for the club’s lead in goal-scoring.
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With two goals this season against FC Dallas, Nagbe has scored three of his five goals against clubs currently among the top-five in MLS; he also scored against New York on March 3.
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The Timbers currently lead MLS in goal-scoring with 25 goals on the season.
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The Timbers’ next league goal will be their 100th MLS goal since joining the league in 2011.
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Midfielder Kalif Alhassan tallied his third assist of the season and the second in the last five league games.
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The Timbers welcomed back goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, defender Futty Danso and forward Ryan Johnson from international duty with their respective countries. All three players played in the match against FC Dallas.
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Ricketts recorded a season-high seven saves against FC Dallas to record his sixth shutout of the season; he’s just one clean sheet back of league-leader Bobby Shuttleworth of New England.
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Ricketts’ seven saves matched a Timbers MLS single-game record, achieved three times previously.
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With the clean sheet against FC Dallas, Ricketts has a current individual shutout streak of 216 minutes (May 18-25; June 15), which is his third different individual shutout streak of 200 or more minutes this season. He missed the June 8 match at Chicago while on international duty.
- Defender Pa Modou Kah made his JELD-WEN Field debut in the match against FC Dallas.
