Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
Thoughts on the match…
“We knew Houston was going to be dangerous in three ways - set pieces, crossing, and counter-attacking. They executed in those three ways well; they scored three goals that way. We knew it coming in and we made some mistakes on all three goals. Because of that ‘we’ meaning myself, the coaching staff, and the players take one on the chin. The key now is to correct the mistakes; not let them happen again and respond. It's a long season; this is one game. We're going to get back to work and get ready for Toronto.”
On the flow of the game and how it played out…
“I thought, the way the second half was playing out, that it was going to go in our favor, at 1-1 we had chances to go 2-1 and then at 2-1 down we had chances to make it 2-2 but it didn't happen for us and there are no excuses. Again there's nothing that happened today that surprised any of us. Give Houston credit, they executed well and we didn't.”
Portland Timbers forward Fanendo Adi
On scoring…
“I think it's important. Of course when you don't score, you start thinking about things, but that's not what I do. I try to just focus on the game, helping the team. The way I play, it's not a must for me to score a goal. It's a way of helping the team, so if another player scores the goal, it's still the same as winning. Of course the goal doesn't matter that much, but it's good for me - it's going to boost my confidence, but as a team, we gave up some goals today. We just need to pick up the good things from the game and look forward to the next one.”
On Houston’s attack…
“We talked about three areas of the game - their set pieces, crosses, and counter-attacks. Those were the exact three that they used in getting their goals. So, it's just something we need to work on. We must give them credit; they used their main points very well. They did a good job.”
On if the team has had mental letdowns following wins this season…
“No, I don't think [there's been] any mental letdown at all. Our team played good football. We know ourselves. We know our team. We know the players. We know the coaches. Everyone is doing a great job. Everyone is trying to win. Of course, you can't just come into a game and play to lose, of course everyone wants to win. Today we gave up some goals, but we just need to focus on looking on to the next game.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri
On the match…
“It was a tough game. There were a lot of fouls, but we did a good job. We tried to keep possession because it was tough. Until Houston's second goal, we played really well. We had great chances, but we have to keep working [ahead of Toronto FC next week].”
On what to say to his teammates…
“Just that we have to keep trusting in our job and our style of play. Rest now. It's a long season. A lot of teams are close.”
Houston Dynamo Quotes
Houston Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle
Thoughts on the match…
“We felt that we started the game with a bit of momentum and look to win games back-to-back for the first time since I think it was August last year. So it was important that we get our momentum going. But on the game, we’re certainly worthy winners. I thought we were outstanding, started the game with real tempo. We knew Portland were going to be good players. They went to Montreal and won well last week, and you see what Montreal did tonight, so they won against a quality side last week as far as I’m concerned. So we knew that we were going to have to work very hard against the ball but with the ball, we certainly felt we would get creativity, we would get goals, and so it proved. … We’re good players, we’re building, we think, a good team. Having said that, there’ll be ups and downs as we go, but what we do know is that we have character and they showed that tonight. They picked themselves up at one each, and they finished it 3-1 but we could have added to that. That’s credit and that’s testimony to every one of those players.”
Houston Dynamo forward Will Bruin
Thoughts on the match
“Good team win. Then again, it’s no surprise to us, we know we can go toe-to-toe with any team in the league. We expect three points every game at home and when we’re locked in and mentally on like that for 90 minutes, we’re a very tough team to break down and to beat, and we’ve got guys that are going to score on the other end of the ball. So this is no surprise to us, we’ll enjoy it tonight and tomorrow and then on to LA.”
Houston Dynamo defender DaMarcus Beasley
Thoughts on the match…
“I thought we controlled the game, pretty much the whole game. They had a lot of possession, but they didn't really worry Tyler [Deric] too much tonight. I thought as a whole, we did well. We defended, starting from Will [Bruin] and all the way in the back. Obviously, they got through a couple of times, but all in all, we definitely deserved to win tonight.”
Notes:
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With an assist on Saturday, midfielder Diego Valeri moves into sole possession of fourth place on the Timbers all-time career list for assists (28) across all eras since 1975.
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Valeri has recorded at least one point in consecutive games following a goal against the Montreal Impact on May 9 with an assist on Saturday at Houston.
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Defender Liam Ridgewell made his 26th consecutive start for the Timbers on Saturday, which is currently the longest active streak on the team.
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Defender Nat Borchers made his 299th career MLS appearance – moving just one game shy of 300 career MLS matches.
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Borchers, Ridgewell and goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey each played the full 90 minutes for the 11th straight game (990 minutes) this season.
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Forward Fanendo Adi’s goal on Saturday marked Portland’s 199th regular-season goal in MLS since 2011. It was Adi’s team-leading fourth goal of the season and the 13th of his Timbers career since joining the team on May 13, 2014.
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Portland, which entered the match ranked fourth in MLS in passing accuracy, tallied a sixth consecutive match with a passing accuracy of at least 80 percent or more on Saturday against Houston (80 percent, 339-of-425 passes).
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Saturday’s road loss was Portland’s 13th away defeat since 2013 (12-13-15 overall) which ranks as the fewest road losses in the league over the last two-plus seasons.
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Saturday’s loss also marked the first time the Timbers have sustained a defeat at BBVA Compass Stadium since the venue opened in 2012.
- Portland saw its three-game unbeaten streak against Houston snapped on Saturday.
