Portland Timbers quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On his overall thoughts on the game…
“I didn’t think we created enough in the second half to win the game, but I don’t think we gave up enough to lose the game either. I thought they struggled to break us down. They didn’t get many clear chances. The two clear chances they got in second half were from the same play. We need to get better pressure on the ball and we have to pick up [Ola] Kamara. We’ve been winning games and we’ve been looking at each game objectively and we’ve been getting better by evaluating them – win, lose or draw – so we will do the same thing with this. But my number one takeaway is we have to get out of this game on the road with at least a point because we were in position to do that and we can’t concede that late goal, especially with the chances that they had which were few and far between.”
On the performance of Dairon Asprilla and Amobi Okugo…
“I thought they did well. Asprilla obviously scored the goal and probably should have had another. Okugo played the role we needed him to play. Be a ball winner and sit in the midfield and sit in passing lanes. I thought it was a pretty good performance from both those guys. I thought a couple of other guys they probably could have done a little bit better. You are going to have ups and downs with guys at this stage in the season, it’s not going to be perfect. But when it’s not perfect as you continue to grow you still have to grind out a result out of the game."
On the positives he can take away from the match…
“I thought our response was good when we went down. We came back, so that was a positive. I thought we created some good chances. We should have scored more than two goals, but I thought a couple times in the second half we needed to do better on the counter and find the right pass. Be a little bit more opportunistic. I didn’t think we created enough in that second half. There were a few little half-chances, but we weren’t quite as effective as first half. Credit to Columbus they did a good job shutting down the counter. They stayed on the ball and they were patient. But I thought we were organized and they had a hard time finding chances. That is why the goal we gave up was very disappointing because it was kind of a cross out of nothing we should be able cut it out and get out of here with a point and we are feeling a little bit better. We will go back to work and we will evaluate the game. Definitely look at all three goals. We can be better on all three goals and get ready for New England.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Amobi Okugo
On the team’s play in the midfield…
“We know how Columbus plays, but I thought we did a great job of plugging the middle and making them frustrated. We had a couple of chances to break on the counter. Columbus did a good job. We feel like we could have gotten a point and unfortunately we didn’t, so we’ve got to look forward to next Sunday.”
On the getting an early goal…
“It was good to get the first goal. Unfortunately we didn’t hold the lead. We went down. We responded really well. The team did a good job of responding, not losing confidence. Unfortunately we gave up the late goal, but we had a couple of chances in the second half as well. [Zack] Steffen made some good saves. [Jonathan] Mensah made a good key interception. We are going to look at the game tape and look to improve.”
On looking forward to the next game against New England at home…
“We are confident. We started the season off 3-0 and we felt we could have gotten a point here, maybe even three. We are not going to change too much. We are going to go back to the film and see what we can do. The coaching staff is going to continue to prepare us for the weekend and we are going to try and take advantage of being at home.”
Portland Timbers defender Roy Miller
On what he saw on Columbus’ third goal…
“We tried to pressure because we know he [Ola Kamara] likes to get on the cross. We knew we had to take care of Kamara, but [Niko Hansen] coming from the outside and shooting after that, he scores. We have to do better than that in the last five minutes.”
On working with Lawrence Olum in the backline…
“I think the communication for us is getting much better. We have only played two games together. Every minute we play together we try to work on communicating and I think that helps.”
Columbus Crew SC quotes
Columbus Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter
On the performance of his team…
“I said to the guys in the locker room that I was really proud of them. The reason being is that we had a game plan and it was going to take a ton of discipline by them to execute it. At half-time we came in to the locker room and we were disappointed. The message was just keep going, keep going, keep going, we’re going to get it, we’re going to wear them down. That’s exactly what happened and credit the guys, to their fortitude and the perseverance to just keep going and eventually get the goal.”
On Niko Hansen’s performance…
“I think that it’s been hard to keep Niko [Hansen] off the field, to be honest. The way he’s been training, the way he’s been performing in games. He hasn’t gotten an opportunity yet. This week he’s looked good again and we really wanted to get him involved in the game. If you take out the goal, I think his performance was spectacular. I mean very secure on the ball, defensive work was excellent. In a debut for him, it shows he’s got quality.”
On his team’s attacking ability…
“Yeah. We rely on those guys for goal production, for making plays that lead to goals, and an overall danger level that we can produce. I think Ethan [Finlay] had a different role today and he still adapted really well and to his credit he stayed disciplined and focused on what he was supposed to do and did a great job.”
Columbus Crew SC midfielder Niko Hansen
On his reaction after the goal…
“It feels great. It took a little bit of figuring out to see if it was real. It’s unbelievable, there’s so many people you want to thank in that moment, my family, the fans and the team of course.”
On feeling ready to make his debut…
“I think it was waiting for the right moment. I had a good week of training and I think I was ready to go in. It was just waiting and finding the right time for me to come in.”
Columbus Crew SC forward Ola Kamara
On confidence from the win…
“We have got some momentum now and that’s a good feeling. Building up to the game you could see the energy in the group. Everyone wanted to win and we wanted revenge and I think that mentality and response was massive. I think that is something to build on and that was fantastic of us.”
On his goal…
“It bounced perfectly and I hit it hard left footed. I am both footed. I saw early on my first goal that the goalie was a little bit out so I planned early to hit it and it was a good touch. It felt like the ball almost didn’t touch my foot. It was that kind of hit, but it was still hard.”
Notes:
· Portland leads MLS with four goals in the first 15 minutes of matches this season.
· Sebastián Blanco tallied his second assist of 2017, becoming the third Timbers player to record at least two assists in the team’s first four matches.
· Dairon Asprilla’s goal in the fourth minute is tied for the quickest away goal during the Timbers MLS era in a regular-season match.
· The goal was Asprilla’s first finish of 2017, and his third career goal for Portland. In addition, Asprilla is the sixth different Timbers player to tally a goal this season.
· With his goal, Fanendo Adi is now tied for the most goals scored across all eras for the club (since 1975) at 45 goals, which equals John Bain’s scoring output.
· Adi has tallied four goals in four career games against Columbus, scoring three goals in Portland’s last two regular-season road matches against Crew SC.
· Adi has scored four goals in his first four matches this season, which ranks tied for second in MLS with Diego Valeri.
· Alvas Powell registered his first assist of 2017 becoming the eighth different Timbers player to record an assist this season.
· Portland has scored at least two goals in four straight regular-season meetings with Columbus, dating back to the 2014 season.
· The Timbers lead MLS in goals scored (12) and assists (11) through the first four weeks of the season.
