Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese
Overall thoughts on the match...
"I thought it was a pretty even game. I think they had their chances and their moments, but we had our chances and our moments. I think the game was up and down for both teams. I thought the heat was definitely an important part of the game. It was difficult, but my question was at the end. Was it a PK or not, and to be quite honest I don’t know what a PK is anymore. I think the rules that we hear one time or the other – I don’t think they’re consistent and I think the right result of this game probably should have been a tie.”
On the deciding PK call late in the game…
“What we saw was definitely a question mark, and I have to enter into this matter because I think it’s important. When it’s not clear and obvious, it’s supposed to be that the call stands. It’s not clear and obvious with the clip that we saw, but in the end these situations happen. We have to know that the referees sometimes play a part in the game as well. Overall, we just need to continue to work and continue to get better. Today, they had their chances and we had our chances. I think the tie should have been the correct score.”
On if he thought the team created enough chances in the match to get a result…
“We always want to create more and want to be more dangerous. At times, we were. I think we created some good moments but Minnesota had some very good chances as well. I thought we defended well. I thought we attacked well in some moments and the same thing for them. I think it was an open game and I think it was decided by something at the end that just ended up going the other way.”
On putting tonight’s result behind the team ahead of Wednesday’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal match…
“This is what the game is. We now need to make sure that we bounce back right away. We’re not going to stay too much on this game. Yes, we have to analyze the things that we did right and the things that we need to improve, and now we’ll be ready for Wednesday. We have to play this team again on Wednesday in the Cup, so we need to prepare in how we’re going to confront them in this coming match. We’ll be analyzing everything tonight and I’m sure that there’s things that we’ll have to improve.”
Portland Timbers defender Jorge Villafaña
On not coming away with points from the match...
"It was a tough match. We managed the game really well. We created some opportunities, they had their chances too and at the end it’s those plays where you can’t get out of the way. They happen so quick that you can’t do anything about it. We’re disappointed that we don’t come out with at least a point, but we can have our revenge on Wednesday, and [we] have another opportunity to get a result and advance.”
On moving on to Wednesday’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal match…
“It has to be a quick switch because the game is in three days. We did well [tonight] because we feel that we played a good game. We created opportunities and we possessed the ball really well. We just had to be a little bit more patient with the ball, but we felt confident. We have to try to make the opportunities count and put them away.”
Minnesota United FC head coach Adrian Heath
On if that was how he drew it up…
“Exactly, yeah. I thought we got a dubious penalty in the last minute. It was one of them that I thought, it was like a training session at the end, attack against defense, who was going to get the break and we got it today. I feel for them a little bit because I know if we’d had been on the receiving end of the penalty, it would’ve been probably a little bit disappointing. But, you know, we always think that things even themselves out and if they do, we actually probably, deserved that. Not today but over the last weeks, we’ve deserved better than what we’ve got out of games. So, pleased for the players. I thought their effort was magnificent. It was a tough game, I’m saying it, it must be one of the most expensive assembled teams in MLS. They’ve got quality throughout and we knew it was going to be tough. I thought we created some good opportunities in the first half. [It was] a little bit like the last home game against Vancouver, I don’t think our final ball was the right ball at times but as I said, I can’t fault the players for their determination to see it through, to get a result.”
On how this afternoon set up Wednesday’s game…
“Well, there’ll be changes from both teams I would think on Wednesday because it’s going to be difficult for everyone to play plus the fact you’re only allowed five overseas players. So, that will certainly affect us so we’ll have to make one or two changes but I’m just pleased to get the three points.”
On if he saw anything that worried him for Wednesday…
“About eight players for them. No, they’ve got good players whichever way they go. You know, they’ve got really good attacking pieces. We think they may change one or two but trust me, it’s going to be difficult for us again on Wednesday now. The one thing that I do know is that Gio is smart enough to know that it’s going to be difficult for them as well.”
Minnesota United FC defender Ike Opara
On tonight’s win making Wednesday’s game harder…
“I think both team are dealing with a couple different challenges. I think luckily for Portland they don’t have to travel, they can just stay here and maybe they can get a little used to the environment our field and our fans so it shouldn’t hit them as much of shock. For us, obviously we have a lot of games coming up that we need to prioritize moving forward with Wednesday and some restrictions in the open cup with the internationals you can have so I think we are going to be juggling a couple things ourselves.”
On making an adjustment from first half to second half to prevent Portland’s chances…
“Yeah we tried to limit their transition and we knew that was going to be the key to the game and in the first half they just waited to get on it and get forward quicker than we were able to get setup and organized in the back. I think in the second half at least at keeping our numbers and keeping our shape. We still had too many turn overs that were crucial but luckily they didn’t capitalize but I thought we were better at that in the second half.”
Notes:
- Diego Chara played in his 250th regular-season match for the Timbers.
- Chara is the seventh player in MLS history to play 250 or more games, while playing his entire career with one MLS club.
- Jeremy Ebobisse has now played in 39 consecutive matches for Portland in all competitions, which ranks as the fourth-longest active streak among MLS field players.
- Jorge Moreira won all five of his duels. He is the first Timbers player in the 2019 season to have five or more duels and win them all.
- Allianz Field is the 107th different away stadium Portland has played a league match in since the club’s founding in 1975. It is the fifth different stadium the Timbers have played at in Minnesota, joining the NSC Stadium, Metropolitan Stadium, the Metrodome and TCF Bank Stadium.
