Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On the match…
“It was solid in terms of our defending and that was probably the most pleasing part of it. Probably should have won the game. We had chances, we hit the post, so you feel like in some ways you deserve better, but I thought we defended very well and that needs to be the formula on the road moving forward.”
On difference between halves…
“Towards the middle part of first half maybe we absorbed a little bit, but then I thought we came to life at the end of the first half and second half we were the aggressor and unfortunate not to score. Obviously, missed a PK and hit post. But I thought overall it was a good performance. I always say if you can't win then don't lose."
On message to team…
“We'll take the point. Good defending. We’ll build on that and unfortunate not to get the three points. Now we have to go get three points at home versus Chicago.”
Portland Timbers forward Fanendo Adi
On the match…
“I think we deserved the win, hitting the crossbar twice is something you take home but you’ve got to work on it. I think we did very well defensively today. That’s what we’ve been lacking in a couple of games so today to come away with a point, playing against such a good team, who tried to hit us on counter, we did a good job defending.”
On his takeaways from game…
“Today, I had some shots on goal but they were in the frame of the goal. It’s just go back and practice well to try to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Portland Timbers defender Nat Borchers
On the team’s defensive performance…
“It feels good. It was something we talked about all week and we know from our previous experiences on the road that it hasn’t been good enough. The amount of goals we’ve given up the last three games just wasn’t good enough for this group. We definitely set the tone early on just about being tight and making sure that we weren’t giving San Jose anything easy.”
On subbing in Taylor Peay…
“Taylor came in and did really well. He came into that Seattle game in the Open Cup and I thought he did a great job. He played in the Open Cup against Salt Lake and did a great job and he’s got all the tools he needs to be a successful player in this league.”
San Jose Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear
On the team’s overall play against Portland, and earning a point…
“A point is better than the last month. So we're happy about that. We definitely had some chances. I thought we played better than we have in a while. That's the positive of it. Obviously you'd love to have the win. Looking on their side, they missed a penalty kick with about 15 minutes to go, so a little bit of fortune. But I thought overall, our game was much better today and that should be the standard we set for the rest of the season."
On what it will take to start finishing opportunities…
“The goalie makes a good save. You can't just say, 'Hey, get out of the way, I'm shooting, give us a goal.' And they're a good defensive team and [goalie Adam] Kwarasey, the more I watch him the more I think he's a very good goalkeeper. At times we kind of had good buildup play and we let ourselves off the hook by either rushing the shot or making the wrong decision. But I thought we had enough chances to be good for a goal today. So when we cross that line we'll be celebrating, and hopefully it leads to more in bunches.”
Notes:
- The Timbers registered their ninth shutout of the season, tied for the most shutouts in MLS this season with Seattle Sounders FC and Sporting Kansas City.
- Defenders Liam Ridgewell and Jorge Villafaña also have started in all nine shutouts this season, which ties them for most clean sheets by a defender with Seattle's Tyrone Mears and Sporting Kansas City's Matt Besler.
- Goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey registered his MLS-leading ninth shutout of the 2015 season.
- Portland has earned at least a win or a draw in eight of its last 11 regular-season games.
- The Timbers improved to 5-1-7 all-time against the Earthquakes, posting a record of 1-1-4 in road matches.
- Portland has produced a clean sheet in three consecutive matches against San Jose, dating back to a 3-0 win on Oct. 8, 2014 at Providence Park.
- Avaya Stadium was the 100th different stadium that the Timbers have visited to play a league match since the club's first road match on May 11, 1975, against the Denver Dynamos at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood, Colo. San Jose's new stadium was the 13th different stadium Portland has played in California, the most of any state.
- Dating back to the North American Soccer League (NASL), the Timbers have compiled a record of 17-10-7 overall against the Earthquakes, including a record of 3-0-2 in their last five MLS matches.
- Sunday’s match marked the 34th all-time meeting between the two clubs in all competitions, across all eras, and the 13th meeting in MLS play since 2011.
- Portland is 11-3-8 overall record immediately following a loss since 2013, including a 4-1-3 record this season after a loss.
- Midfielder Will Johnson made his 185th career MLS appearance and played in his 65th career match for the Timbers.
- Midfielder Darlington Nagbe moved into sole possession of third place all-time in appearances for Portland across all eras, making his 149th career appearance for the club.
- Defender Taylor Peay made his fifth career MLS appearance, entering the match as a second-half substitute.
- Forward Lucas Melano appeared in his second MLS match, playing in his second consecutive game after making his MLS debut on the road against Dallas on July 25.
