Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
Thoughts on the game…
“I thought it was tough to give up the first goal against the run like we did. I think they had three shots in the first half and two of them were dead balls. We gave up the goal but our response was good. We pushed in the second half; I thought we dominated the play and deserved to find the goal and should’ve scored the winning goal. We had a couple of clear chances to win. The one their goalkeeper saved on Adi and the Asprilla header. If we score there we probably come away with the three points. As it turns out they come down the other end a minute later and Earnshaw makes a good run and a good finish. You have credit them certainly today for getting the three points. They defended well but I don’t know how we didn’t win; I really don’t. This is the sport, and sometimes it’s cruel. I haven’t seen us dominate a game on the road like this and lose since I’ve been here. It is what it is. I think it’s a bit unfair for our guys; they deserved better but you’ve got to move on. We’ll get ready for next week against Dallas at home. We’ve got two games at home and have to have a short memory on this one.”
Whether this is one of the most frustrating games he’s been a part of…
“Yeah probably because of the way we played. I didn’t think it was fair based on how well we played, but again you have to credit Vancouver. They’ve been getting results and finding a way to win games like this by defending and countering. We knew what type of game we were going to be in and you have credit them for finding a way to get three points.”
On what’s next…
“Move on to the next game. Keep playing that way – it’s simple. Obviously we need to have a bit better quality in the final third because as much as we dominated we should’ve scored two, three, four goals – no doubt about it – and the few chances they had we have to do better on."
Portland Timbers forward Fanendo Adi
On the key to scoring goals…
“It’s football. Today we can say the better team lost the game. Of course, it’s all about winning. If we are not able to win, we are not the better team, so that’s all we can say: they are the better team and that’s why they won.”
On going up against Pa-Modou Kah and Kendall Waston…
“I’ve played a couple of times with them. I think it’s pretty much physical. I think they are the most physical to play against in the whole league. I can turn around them. So it’s just something we’ve got to look into, if he doesn’t call my fouls and he calls the same fouls against their striker, it’s just something I can’t control. What I can control is how I play my game. They played well and defended well and cut our crosses. They are good defenders.”
On taking the positives…
“We take a lot of positives out of it. We know Vancouver is a tough team to play against, and it’s always a fight to come in here to play them out rightly. We possessed the game, we created more chances, we did everything more than they had but unfortunately they scored two goals and we just scored one goal. We take a lot of positive things out of this game; we just need to forget about it as soon we can and focus on the next game.”
Portland Timbers defender Nat Borchers
On being concerned about playing well and not getting the result…
“No, I’m not. I think good teams like this are eventually going to find a way and we’re going catch our stride and we’re going to get that first win. It’s going to come soon and once we do I think it’s going to give us a lot of confidence going into the rest of the games.”
On taking the positives…
“This is a results business of course and we’re disappointed that we lost the game. But we do acknowledge that a lot of guys stepped up and played very well.”
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Quotes
Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson
On David Ousted’s performance…
“He was excellent. He won us the game today. Obviously the substitutes coming on made a big difference as well for us but without David we would have lost the game. Maybe we deserved to lose the game but when you have a top goal keeper it’s important he keeps you in games like he did today. They were the better team. They were the better team for long stretches. We couldn’t get to grips with them. When it went to 1-1 we would have taken a draw at that point but we put Earnie (Earnshaw) to try and nick us a goal. That’s why we signed him.”
On being dominated in midfield…
“I don’t know. That’s something we need to look at because they are a good team with good players. We can say that we had a couple players missing but it’s irrelevant. We shouldn’t be dominated like that in the midfield area. We are very strong in midfield. The game is won and lost in midfield. Every game of football is. Today we came out on top with a moment of magic. A sliding pass from Pedro and Earnie chips over the goalkeeper. I will take the points.”
On the rivalry…
“It’s a great rivalry. Portland came in and played well. It does live up. We’ll take the result and performance, but will go back to work next week. We need to improve a lot but the fans have gone home happy today.”
Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Robert Earnshaw
Thoughts on his game-winning goal…
“It was amazing. Even with the length of time I’ve been playing football, that feeling when the ball hits the net, oh my god, it’s the best. It’s the best. Within those two and a half seconds, in my mind it was like three minutes because I have to know what to do, when to do it and react to what he was doing. I had a few options. I had time. The best option was what happened. I didn’t know what to do. I was so emotional. I was so happy, I kind of lost myself a little bit. That’s a credit to everybody here.”
Vancouver Whitecaps FC goalkeeper David Ousted
On his important saves…
“I’m happy with my performance today. I gave us a chance to win it and that’s why I’m in there. I’m delighted to see Earnie [Earnshaw] get that goal. It shows what a composed player he is and he’s a great addition to our team.”
On Portland’s control in the second half…
“I think we lacked both composure on the ball and pressure on the ball. They did really well keeping it and playing around us but we’re a better team than what we showed today, both in the pressing and with the ball and that’s some of the things that we need to work on.”
Notes:
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The Timbers logged 2015 MLS season-high marks in possession (66 percent), passing accuracy (88 percent) and passing accuracy in the attacking third (77 percent) on Saturday against Vancouver.
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The result marked the first-ever loss for Portland at BC Place in the team’s MLS era (3-1-2).
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Saturday’s match was the 80th all-time match between Portland and Vancouver since 1975. The Timbers are 30-35-15 all-time against Whitecaps FC across all eras.
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Portland held Vancouver without a corner kick on Saturday, the second time this season the Timbers have not conceded a corner kick (March 7 vs. Real Salt Lake). It marked the third time in the team’s MLS era in which Portland has not conceded a corner kick.
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Dating back to last season, the Timbers saw their road shutout streak against Whitecaps FC snapped at 227 minutes on Saturday.
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Forward Fanendo Adi's goal on Saturday was his third career goal against Whitecaps FC, putting him into a tie with midfielder Will Johnson for most regular-season goals against Vancouver in Timbers MLS history. All three of Adi’s goals against Whitecaps FC have come in the 66th minute or later.
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Defender Liam Ridgewell made his 19th 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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Midfielder/forward Darlington Nagbe was fouled four times on Saturday. Nagbe has now been fouled in each of his last 20 matches.
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Nagbe became the first Timbers MLS player to reach 131 games played for the club on Saturday night. He is just one match shy of tying USL Timbers midfielder Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar (132) for fifth place on the all-time list across all eras.
- Midfielder George Fochive made his second career MLS start on Saturday.
