Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
Thoughts on the road win…
“I think first and foremost it’s a great result. It’s three points on the road. I thought we defended really well and we found a goal. Sometimes, you’ve got to do it with just one goal and defending well. Typically, on the road, that’s how you get results and that’s how we got it.”
On the team’s message at halftime…
“I thought in the latter stages of the first half that we started to find our way and get our foot on the ball. For me, it was us giving the ball away in the first 10-15 minutes that led to them having the run of play. Then, we started playing quicker. We kept the ball better, which allowed us to move up the field. I think we built off of that going into the second half. We made a few adjustments. I thought our subs helped as well, so it was a good team performance and a good result.”
On Adam Kwarasey’s performance…
“[Adam did] what a goalkeeper has to do. [Goalkeepers] have to make a couple of saves a game to win and he made a couple big saves for us at the end. Then, [Dairon Asprilla] found the goal. I thought Darlington [Nagbe] was also exceptional in creating chances for us and I thought the back six were really tight and organized. I thought they all had a really good game.”
On bouncing back after last week…
“Our guys have good character and they’re honest with themselves. They knew it wasn’t good enough last week. I didn’t have to say much to them. I knew I’d get a good response from them and a good performance. The biggest thing I asked for was for everybody to do their job and to put in a good shift and perform at a level that’s on par with their potential as players. Typically, you need a professional to put in a seven out of 10 week in and week out, maybe it’s an eight or a nine some other weeks. I thought we had far too many guys last week that were below their level. Today, I thought we had a good performance across the board from everybody. We certainly can play better, but ultimately we’re going to take the three points and get back to work. We have to get ready for Seattle because it’s not going to get any easier.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury
On tonight’s win…
“It was a much-needed win. We haven’t gotten some results at home that we wanted, so for us to come here on the road and get our first road victory of the year was huge.”
On Adam Kwarasey’s performance…
“Absolutely unbelievable. I think that the last save in the 85th minute was obviously key and kept us getting three points. He was huge for us tonight and I’m happy for him.”
On dealing with New York City FC pressure in the first half…
“To be quite honest, they came out in the first 15-20 minutes and played quite well, they pressed. We knew that was something they’d probably do. We were a little disappointed we didn’t handle it better, but at the end of the day on the road you’re going to have to weather the storm at times and we did that.”
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey
On tonight’s win…
“It feels great. I think it was a team effort, even though I made a save in the end. All the guys played well. Nat had a huge block also. Everybody put in good defensive work today. It feels good to finally get three points away.”
On the feeling in the locker room…
“We haven’t gotten the amount of points that we feel that we deserved and now we get three points when we played an okay game. We’ve played better earlier this season, but everybody is happy and finally the luck went our way.”
On the potential of the team going forward…
“We can definitely improve. This is not our best game so far this season. We’ve played better earlier. I think we just need to win some more games. We can’t just play sexy football and not get any points.”
On getting three points…
“It’s huge. Last week we underestimated Orlando a little bit. They came out hard and they shocked us. They played really well and they deserved the win. We warned each other that New York might try to do the same today. It means a lot for us [to win]. Even though it’s early in the season, we just need to get some points and not be too far behind when it starts to get important and the pressure is on. It feels good that we got the three points.”
New York City FC Quotes
New York City FC head coach Jason Kreis
On the encouraging signs from the despite the loss…
“I’m actually very encouraged with the performance in the last two matches, it shows me that we are moving in the right direction. I think we have the necessary qualities to be a very good team in this league, but for whatever reason I feel that we are getting quite unfortunate. I have to believe over a course of the season we’ll get some luck are our side and this will all level out.”
On what he is finding about the team’s character…
“We had five players unavailable due to injury today and that’s a lot at one time and all of it to happen within a week is pretty crazy. But the players that were called upon tonight to put in a performance to show what they’re about, stepped forward. I think the morale of the group tonight was especially high, they were willing and able to do anything for each other and that’s encouraging as well.”
New York City FC defender Jeb Brovsky
On having strong performances but not getting results…
“I think we still have a great philosophy here at this club. I think every guy has bought into it, which is most important. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing. We’re going to keep plugging away because the results are going to come. We know that. Anyone who’s been in this league a long time has known that—that the results will come. But the worst thing that a team right now can do is get their head down.”
New York City FC goalkeeper Josh Saunders
On the club feeling unlucky…
“You obviously has to be patches where you get a little unlucky. Later in the year, you hope the ball bounces your way. I think we can walk out of here with our heads held high. Guys performed very well. Our possession was great. Going forward, we did very well. Just got a little unlucky.”
On how many deflections Portland’s goal took before it got to him…
“I think it was just the one. I’m not sure, I’ll have to watch it again. It’s one of those plays you’re fully committed. It’s unfortunate. I thought our defense played well. They limited chances.”
Notes:
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With the win, Portland improved its record to 9-2-5 overall immediately following a loss since the 2013 season.
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The Timbers compiled a passing accuracy above 80 percent (81.2) for the second straight match.
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Portland improved its record on the road against teams from the Eastern Conference to 5-2-4 since 2013.
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Winger Ishmael Yartey, who is on loan from FC Sion in Switzerland, made his first start and appearance for Portland on Sunday, playing 74 minutes.
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Defender Liam Ridgewell made his 22nd consecutive start since joining Portland on June 25, 2014, the longest current streak for the Timbers.
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Winger Dairon Asprilla tallied his first goal for the Timbers (and in MLS) on Sunday night. Asprilla’s goal was the game-winner for Portland in the 79th minute.
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Sunday’s match marked Portland’s first-ever meeting with New York City FC and just the second-ever time the Timbers have played a match in New York City. Portland’s only previous game in the Big Apple came on July 16, 1975, in a 2-1 win over the New York Cosmos during the NASL era.
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Portland has lost just 11 road matches (11-11-15) since 2013, three fewer than any other team in MLS over that span of time.
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Defender Nat Borchers made the 295th appearance of his MLS career on Sunday night.
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Midfielder Jack Jewsbury marked his 250th career MLS start on Sunday against NYCFC.
- Portland has registered a clean sheet in three of its last four road games, dating back to the 2014 season.
