Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On getting three points from this game:
“I thought we earned it with our second half performance. If it wasn’t for [Nick] Rimando making three saves prior to the goal we scored, then we would have scored the goal sooner. I thought in the first half they were better but we came to life in the last ten minutes. First half we bent but we didn’t break. That’s the mark of a good team. We knew we were going to absorb some on the road. That happens. You need to be able to do that. We found our way as the half went on and I thought that we were the better team in the second half. We created chances enough to score and finally we were rewarded.”
On weathering the storm in the first half:
“We felt that with their movement and with the numbers that throw forward that if we just stay organized they would have a hard time breaking us down. Obviously they had some possession but they really didn’t penetrate very much. We limited them to crosses and shots from distance. They never really broke us down. Every time that we won the ball it seemed like we were off to create something. [Diego] Valeri had one that Rimando saved. Maxi [Urruti] had one. There were 3 clear cut chances. Like I said, we get rewarded with the goal at the end because that second half I thought we managed it brilliantly."
On the contribution of defender Nat Borchers:
“Well it’s big. He’s come to our club and helped to stabilize our back line. We’ve got three clean sheets in a row. We have 11 on the year and I think that leads MLS. He is a winner; I’m happy to see him score a goal at the end. Obviously it’s difficult to play against your former team. I know playing for Salt Lake meant a lot to him. He had a lot of good years here. Sometimes emotionally that is difficult to put on another uniform and play against your old team. But it is a lot more difficult to lose against your old team than it is to win.”
On where this win ranks in his MLS victories:
“This stacks up there with the LA Galaxy win at the death in 2013. Obviously that was great year so I’m hoping that this year is similar or better. We put three points in the bank with this road result but the key is to go back home now and get the result at home. For us I have been saying that the road points, as long as we get points at home, will determine our seeding. But we need to turn around quickly and we can’t take this next game for granted. Houston is going to be hungry, just like Salt Lake was. Real proud of the guys, team effort. I thought the guys that came in the game did well. [Jack] Jewsbury, Maxi and [Dairon] Asprilla gave us great minutes. I thought Valeri, [Darlington] Nagbe and Rodney [Wallace] really defended a lot. That’s not normally what they want to do. But that’s what you have to do to win games sometimes. I’m pleased.”
On what he expects from his team in the future:
“I think there is more. There is still more in this team. We have had continuity in these last few games. We’ve had good disciplined defensive performances. I think there is more we can do in the attack. I think in time that will come around because we have been rotating so much up to the last three games. I think that we have lost some of that attacking connection and chemistry. I thought there were some really good sequences tonight. I know at home there will be some better attacking football. This is a game where if we got a point it would be great but we wanted to be in a situation similar to San Jose where we would get chances on the counter and it played out exactly how we thought and fortunately we were able to find a goal. Coming back home against Houston it will be a different game. We will be the ones deciding the game. We need to be able to switch gears and be able to manage the game when we’re up the field now and Houston will be looking to counter us.”
Portland Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell
On getting the win with Nat’s goal:
“Fantastic obviously. We had a few chances before that and their goalkeeper had some very good saves. Nat got the goal in for us in the 94th or 95th minute, whatever it was. We’re going to win a game if we perform well.”
On the pressure RSL put on them:
“We knew they were going to throw a lot of players forward. We knew they wanted to win and needed the points obviously same as us, but that’s the game they play. I thought we managed quite well throughout the game.”
On the few knocks he received in the game:
“I’m fine. I think it’s football you know. You’re going to get knocks. You’re going to stick your head really close where the boots are going to be. I’m just glad we kept a clean sheet on that one.”
Portland Timbers defender Nat Borchers
On the game:
“First half wasn’t ours. They came out and I thought they really dominated that game and were the better team. In the second half fortunately it was a different story for us. We had some more of the ball and you know we were able to squeak one. We were the better team tonight? Probably not, but these are the kind of results you got to work for.”
On his goal and what it meant to him:
“I was just trying to get separation in the back post and Valeri had an unbelievable ball. Then I just wanted to put it on that and really just give myself a chance and it went in and I didn’t want to celebrate in front of my former club. I mean, there’s too many emotions and they had been too good to me for me to do that to them, so it was an emotional goal. One of the most emotional I’ve ever scored.”
Real Salt Lake Quotes
Real Salt Lake head coach Jeff Cassar
On whether Nat Borchers being the one to score game-winning goal hurts more:
“We all love Nat and want good things to happen for him. What hurts is losing that game and not getting three points.”
On the chances in the first half:
“We want to try to keep putting the players in positions to score. There was some beautiful soccer out there. I was really proud of watching our team play with that relentless attacking style. You could see Portland just dropping, dropping, dropping. But you have to put away those opportunities, you really do, because it doesn’t take much on the other end to get something. We’re going to continue to keep plugging, keep continuing to try to put the players in scoring situations and I have full confidence that they will. It’s not easy to score. So we’re going to keep working.”
On not being able to score:
“I thought we got ourselves in good positions but a lot of times we were lacking the quality of the service. We had good numbers in the box for most of the night. Again, building confidence – we’ve had some tough results. Everybody’s confidence is just a hair off, so as a staff we’re going to try to build their confidence and continue to keep working.”
Real Salt Lake midfielder Javier Morales
On if this one stings:
“A little bit. I think we did everything to win the game. We were looking. We created a lot of chances. In soccer, when you don’t finish your chances, it’s tough because that can happen – the other team can score a goal and win the game. I think today, we did everything to win the game. We were looking forward, we played the best soccer on the field but it’s never enough. It’s never enough because in my opinion you have to be smart. We’re playing a home game and if you can win you have to lose. And we lost three points today. It was tough.”
Notes:
- With the shutout, Portland leads MLS with 11 clean sheets through 25 games this season.
- Portland has not conceded a goal in 273 consecutive minutes since July 25.
- Saturday’s win, Portland’s 11th in 25 matches this season, marked the quickest the Timbers have reached the 11-win mark in their MLS history – besting the previous mark of 11 wins in 29 games during the 2013 season.
- Goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey recorded his league-leading 11th shutout of the season. Kwarasey is just three shutouts shy of tying the Timbers single-season shutout record (14) across all eras.
- Defenders Liam Ridgewell and Jorge Villafaña (along with Kwarasey) have started in each of the club's 11 shutouts this season.
- Defender Nat Borchers tallied his third goal of the season, tying his MLS career high set in 2011 with Real Salt Lake. It also marked his 15th career goal.
- Borchers’ game-winning goal was the latest game-winning goal scored by the Timbers, as well as the latest goal ever scored in the team’s MLS history.
- Borchers’ goal was Portland’s third game-winning goal in stoppage time this season and the second on the road (May 30 at Colorado).
- Midfielder Diego Valeri recorded the 31st assist of his MLS career. Valeri is tied with Real Salt Lake midfielder Javier Morales for most assists since the beginning of the 2013 season.
- Midfielder Rodney Wallace made the 150th appearance of his MLS career on Saturday.
- Forward Lucas Melano made his first career start for Portland following three consecutive substitute appearances.
- Portland is now 3-5-5 all-time against Real Salt Lake, including 2-0-2 in their last four regular-season games.
- The Timbers have won back-to-back matches at Rio Tinto Stadium (3-1; June 7, 2014).
- Over its last 13 matches, Portland has compiled the second-most points of any team (8-3-2, 26pts) in the league, just one point less than Sporting Kansas City (8-2-3, 27pts).
