SPORTING KANSAS CITY MANAGER PETER VERMES
On Sporting KC getting its first shutout on the road since April:
“MLS is a very difficult league because, I always say, there's so much parity from team to team. Obviously, the results every week show how hard it is to get points on the road in this league as well. It's one thing to come and get a point; it's another thing to play, have the ball as much as we did, probe the field as well as we did, and I think it was the second minute, we probably could've scored two goals—or first three minutes or whatever—we could've scored two goals. Yeah, it was very good. I'd say for the whole game what was never easy is you almost get a little bit impatient at some point and lose the organization on the field, lose a little of your positional sense, and now when they win the ball, because obviously they were sitting back and trying to counter, we could've really gotten exposed, but credit to the guys because they were very disciplined throughout the course of the match and that piece was excellent.”
On the chances the team was unable to capitalize on:
“The great thing is, all you have to get is a chance in the last second of the game, you know? Goalkeeper [David Bingham] made a good save. That's what he's there for. It's not just hit it and it goes in, right? To be honest with you, I'm not really concerned about any of that. Why would I be? Being able to come into somebody else's place and possess the ball the way we did, create chances the way we did. Sometimes it doesn't go in, that's okay. Very good from our team and the chances we created were tremendous.”
SPORTING KANSAS CITY DEFENDER GRAHAM ZUSI
Overall thoughts on the game:
“There's a whole lot of positives to take from this game. We came out and we controlled the tempo. We had the better chances of the game and it's a good performance. A point on the road is not easy to come by in this league. We're happy with a point, but today should've been three."
SPORTING KANSAS CITY MIDFIELDER BENNY FEILHABER
On the team's defensive performance in the first half:
“I would guess that a lot of that has to do with how well we kept possession in the first half. I think we kept possession pretty well the whole game, but the first half I think we did a better job of really making them work, and then when they did have the ball, they probably were a little bit tired to really penetrate and we were in good spots as well, so that all plays into the defensive aspect of things. Makes it a lot easier when you're keeping the ball and when you're in good spots, so that was probably one of the main things.”
On the result:
“I think to come on the road in MLS and out-possess a team like we did today and probably out-create good chances than the home team, I think is always a good standard. I think we've been playing the right way on the road. The results haven't been as we would've liked for a large majority of the games, but I think we're on the right track to eventually kind of break through and eventually get on a little bit of a run. The style of play is definitely not the issue. I think we can be a little bit more aggressive on the offensive side of things and to be able to get that goal that really changes the game in our favor, but we're definitely not going to change the way that we play because I think that's one thing that's really working for us.”
