Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
Overall thoughts on the match…
"I thought it was a good performance. Sporting Kansas City's a good team. It's one of the toughest places to come and get a result. I thought it was a very good game, about 50/50 in possession, so we kept the ball better this game, which allowed us to control periods. To put yourself in a position to get three points on the road you have to keep the game tight, especially against a good team, and hope to finish your couple chances, which we didn’t. But if you can't finish your couple chances to win the game, getting a point on the road here is a positive. We're unbeaten in three games against three very good teams."
On how getting a result in the first road game of the season helps the team’s confidence...
"Well, again, we're unbeaten in all three games home and on the road. I think we're always a good road team. We looked very mature, just like last year when we won seven games on the road. We looked organized, we limited their chances to set pieces primarily. There's some very good attacking players on that team, Zusi, Dwyer, Espinoza and Feilhaber and these guys. I thought overall from the run of play they didn’t have much other than set pieces."
Portland Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury
On playing in Kansas City…
“It's always nice to come back and to see the atmosphere that's been created over the past few years. When I got traded back in 2011, it was right before the stadium opened. So it's always special to come back and see what's transpired over the past four or five years.”
On Rodney Wallace's first-half scoring chance…
“The ball popped out to Darlington [Nagbe] on the left side. In the holding spot, I just try to be an option to hit that shot. I actually mis-hit the ball, to be quite honest. I was trying to shoot, but didn't hit it as well as I wanted to and it went to Rodney [Wallace]. Unfortunately, he was offside. We had a few chances. Defensively, we felt like we were really solid and didn't give them too much, but obviously we would have liked to sneak one in on the other end as well.”
On controlling the Sporting KC attack after first 15 minutes…
“To be honest, we never felt like we were under fire that much. We felt like we had a pretty good grasp on the game possession-wise. We knew the first 10 or 15 minutes were going to be a bit hectic, especially here where they are trying to push the game. But once the game settled in, we were able to get a hold of the ball and play well.”
On earning a road draw…
“Any time you tie at home, you are disappointed because you wanted to get three points. The road is a different story. You are pressing to get three points if you can. But at the end of the day, if you come away from the road game with a point, it can be considered a success.”
Portland Timbers defender Nat Borchers
On earning another clean sheet…
“I think tonight we showed we can go on the road and battle and, honestly, we out-possessed them quite well and pressed them the whole game. Really, we just did a good job on this side of the ball.”
On maintaining a good pace throughout the match…
“We came into this game knowing we had gotten two ties at home. So we needed to come out flying against a team that hadn't gotten a win yet. I just thought from start to finish we played like a mature team and played like a team willing to do the dirty work to get a result.”
On Caleb Porter's message postgame…
“It was all good. We did a lot of good things on both sides of the ball. I thought our possession was really good tonight and if we continue to do that we'll start to get some points here.”
Sporting Kansas City Quotes
Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes
Overall thoughts on the match…
“I thought we were very good on our game plan tonight. The biggest thing for me is I thought we were very good on both sides of the ball. I thought we were excellent on our set pieces and very dangerous. We could have scored easy two or three goals on the set pieces. I thought we were very good. Sometimes they don´t go in but to play like that, I like where we are at. I like the way we are progressing as a team. I like the way we are starting to understand how to play. I think we are moving in the right direction.”
On getting shut out…
“I am always more concerned when you don’t make chances. I have lot of confidence in our team in regards to scoring goals. I really do.”
Sporting Kansas City defender Jalil Anibaba
On Sporting KC’s 0-0 draw against Portland…
“It was a hard-fought and intense match from minute one to 90. Throughout the game our team had good resolve. Defensively we were solid, so from that perspective it was a step forward tonight.”
On Sporting KC earning the shutout…
“They have a lot of attacking options – a lot of guys who are really dangerous going forward. But like I said, I thought defensively we were great tonight. We limited their chances, and I thought we were mostly on the front foot for the whole game.”
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber
On Sporting KC’s 0-0 draw against Portland…
“Another draw at home is not what you want. You always want to get the wins. But having said that, it’s still early in the season. I think it’s more important at this point in the season to improve on the field, and I think we did. I think we played better this game than we did against New York, and it was definitely a better performance than in Dallas. I think we outplayed Portland for the majority of the game. I don’t know if we deserved three points, but at this point we’ll take the one and be content with the fact that we’re improving each game.”
On limiting Darlington Nagbe’s impact on the game…
“That was my number one goal defensively, for sure. But it’s a team effort – you can’t defend a guy like that one-on-one. So a lot of people were aware of where he was on the field. When he got the ball, we had numbers behind the ball and I did whatever I could to make his life difficult, whether it was trying to poke the ball, nudge him, or create difficult situations for him to get out of. He’s a great player and the more you can get him off his game, the better.”
Notes:
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The Timbers are unbeaten in 11 consecutive matches (5-0-6) against Western Conference opponents since Aug. 30, 2014. Portland has scored 20 goals in those 11 matches.
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Defender Liam Ridgewell made his 18th consecutive start for the Timbers on Saturday, which is the team's longest current streak of consecutive starts. Ridgewell has started every regular-season match since making his debut for the club on July 18, 2014.
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Including last season, Portland is on a seven-game unbeaten streak in MLS league matches.
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Saturday’s clean sheet marked the quickest span of time that the Timbers have registered two shutouts to start a season since they joined MLS in 2011.
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Midfielder/forward Darlington Nagbe was fouled three times on Saturday. Nagbe has now been fouled in each of his last 19 matches.
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The Timbers have logged a shutout in five of their last six regular-season games dating back to the 2014 season.
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Portland is now 2-1-1 all-time in all competitions at Sporting Park and haven’t suffered a defeat at the venue since Aug. 17, 2011.
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At the conclusion of Saturday’s match, Portland was one of just eight remaining MLS sides that have not lost in 2015.
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Midfielder Diego Chara made his 120th career MLS appearance for the Timbers. Chara, who is the team’s MLS career leader in minutes played (10,536) trails Timbers general manager Gavin Wilkinson (124) for a share of eighth place on the all-time list across all eras.
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Nagbe became the first Timbers MLS player to reach 130 games played on Saturday night. He is just two matches shy of tying USL Timbers midfielder Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar (132) for fifth place on the all-time list across all eras.
- Defender Jeanderson made his MLS debut Saturday night. He becomes the first Brazilian to play for the Timbers in the club’s 40-year history.
