Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
General thoughts on the matchâĤ
âI thought we played very well. I thought from the opening whistle we came to play. We worked really hard and also thought we were very intelligent in the game. We managed the moments of the game really, really well. Thereâs no doubt. Itâs good because we play in a very similar environment in our place and it helps you understand that with the crowd, it can make the game very emotional. I thought our guys managed the game really, really well and thatâs not an easy thing to do over the course of 90 minutes playing away from home. Getting a shutout was huge. Tim [Melia] made a huge save off that shot from [Darlington] Nagbe.â
On slowing down Portlandâs attackâĤ
âI never really think of it that way. I understand the question. I get it. I look at it like this: I said this all week long, [Portland] is the best team going forward in the league right now. They execute. We know that theyâre coming in arguably the best team in the league. So for us to come in here, it was going to be a massive game and we walk away with a massive three points. But make no mistake about it, we came to play. We didnât just sit back or whatever. We also managed the moments of the game and when I talk about that, I mean the time, the score of the game, all those types of things. I think we did a really good job.â
On the success of Sporting Kansas Cityâs defenseâĤ
âEveryone always talks about the goalkeeper and the backline, donât get me wrong, theyâre doing well. But itâs really a team idea. When we donât have the ball, how do we win it back? How do we stay organized, how do we not unbalance ourselves. I thought our commitment was excellent. I also thought, late in the game, itâs normal. Youâre away from home, youâre winning and the other team is now going to send numbers forward. At that moment, youâre going to have to use your instincts and I thought, at those moments instinctively, I thought we were very good. We made very good decisions. And again, we didnât lose ourselves. This is a game where emotion could have really gotten the best of you. I thought we handled ourselves well in those moments. Itâs a good step early on in the season, but we got a lot of games to go.â
Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler
General thoughts on the matchâĤ
âIt was a hard-fought match. Two teams that were playing well at the moment. Weâre happy to get three points. Portlandâs a very good team and this is a tough place to play. Like I said, weâre happy with the work we put in tonight, but at the same time, weâre ready to move on and get back home and get ready for the next opponent.â
On managing the end of the game with a lot of emotion from the home sideâĤ
âWe just dealt with it. Tim [Melia] made a really big save for us like we expect him to do. We know that when you go on road and you play a good team in a hostile environment that itâs not going to be perfect. Thereâs going to be periods in the game where youâre going to have to come up with some plays on the defensive end and fortunately we were able to do that tonight.â
Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer
On the play leading up to his goalâĤ
âIt was a fantastic ball from Jimmy Medranda. He just managed to get himself on the end of it and whipped it across and I just redirected it into the corner.â
On managing the end of the game as Portland pushed numbers forwardâĤ
âWe defended fantastically. We were just good as a group. We were very solid. Our keeper made some fantastic saves. He [Tim Melia] was class tonight. I think we just played well as a team and I think we deserved to win tonight.â
On if there is a rivalry building between Sporting Kansas City and PortlandâĤ
âYeah. Portland is a very good side, so theyâre going to have a good atmosphere here so itâs always a fun place to play, even as an away player. Itâs going to be a battle. We have respect for them. Theyâre a good side. We got the better of them tonight but Iâm sure we have many big battles down the line with them.â
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On his evaluation of the gameâĤ
âI think the game went kind of how we thought it would go. When you are playing KC, itâs not going to be this pretty game with flow and rhythm. We knew playing them, because weâve seen it in a lot of other games, thatâs not the way the game goes. Obviously if you can get ahold of the ball a little bit more, certainly I did think we were a little bit, at times, sloppy with possession, but itâs a little bit more credit to them and how they play and how tight they get to you. So youâve got to figure out other ways because you canât always pass the ball up the field and have a game where there is rhythm and flow. Ultimately, you have to give them credit. They are a good team. Every game has different challenges. We knew the challenges we would have in this game in terms of breaking down the opponent and I thought there were times we could have done better in getting around them wide. A couple of times I thought we were in a good spot to break through and score, but we just werenât able to find that final ball or that final cross. Itâs an even game. If you look at the shots were even, the possession was even. But they obviously found a goal and we credit them. What I will say though was it was the perfect ref for how they played today, the perfect ref. With a different day with a different ref, itâs a lot different game with the fouls that are called and all that. But thatâs a part of every game as well. The officials. The conditions. We've got to find ways to wins games when things arenât going our way. Part of that is putting the game on our terms. Part of that is finding a way to win, no matter what. Part of that is managing the emotions of whatâs happening in the game and keeping your composure. We have another opponent coming up next week that is going to be similar from the standpoint of they want to chop up the rhythm. They want to get a lot of body contact all the time. Every team is different. Every opponent is different. Every game is different. We have to find ways to win games when we are not able to get rhythm. When we are not able to get as much control as we want. But thatâs a very good team. This game will help us. We will learn from it and, like I said, we have a chance next weekend to show that weâve learned some lessons in this type of soccer game.â
On what the team needed to do to break down KCâs midfieldâĤ
âObviously with their three holding mids basically flattening out and with their back four that block of seven and their wingers getting tucked in too, itâs basically a block of nine. Definitely when we gave up the goal it was a block of nine. Thatâs a lot of numbers. You watch the highest level games in the world when a team puts that type of numbers itâs not easy. You have to get width to pull apart those two lines. You have to try to get in the layers. You have to get your outside backs forward. Like I said, it was pretty even in terms of the chance creation. Both teams pretty even in possession. We played a good team. A very good team. Weâve got to find ways to win these types of games, itâs that simple. And how do you win this type of game? You keep your composure. You find a bit of quality. You score off a set piece. Youâve got to find that precision in the final third. Thereâs no magic formula how you do that. More width obviously. You get more width then maybe you find more gaps central. I just didnât think we found quite enough."
On the close games historically between Portland and KCâĤ
"Yes, I think last year we beat them 3-0 the last time we played them here prior to this game. But, yes I think itâs been pretty even, back and forth. Usually 1-0 either way. Theyâve gotten us a few times more than that and weâve gotten them a few times more than that. I think when you just have two good teams that are evenly matched then it becomes a tighter game. Especially when you have two teams that arenât going to give an inch. They are organized. They get tight to you. They are strong mentally. I think I said it on the broadcast at halftime, itâs going to be a one-goal game either way and itâs going to probably come from a mistake. We made a mistake. We gave up a goal. Other than that it was a pretty even game. But we have to learn from the conditions of this game. The way it played out. The emotion of the game, and we have to keep our composure better and find that bit of quality to unlock them."
Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri
On his thoughts on the matchâĤ
âIt wasnât the result we wanted and it wasnât the game we wanted to play. It was tough. There was a lot of fight, and a little bit of soccer. We tried to push in the last 30 minutes, after their goal, and we couldnât find the goal to tie the game. They played well in the second half and we couldnât find a goal, and that was the difference.â
On finding chances to score in a game where there arenât manyâĤ
âTry to score with a couple of the chances you have because thatâs the secret of soccer. If we would score one out of the [chances] we created, the game would change. We couldnât and it was a big one in this game. In the second half, they scored and we couldnât. In a game as even as this one was thatâs the difference.â
On whether or not the confidence of the team is downâĤ
âNo. Besides the result, we are confident in our quality and unity. Obviously it wasnât the result we want, but itâs a long season. Weâre going to fight. We have a long way to work.â
Portland Timbers forward Fanendo Adi
Overall thoughts on the matchâĤ
âIt was just an up and down game. We didnât have the flow of the game. Kansas City came in with a pretty good plan to press very high. I think thatâs what they did, but we gave up some balls and the goal came out of nowhere. They took advantage of some mistakes and credit to them. They came to play their own type of game. They didnât let us play our football.â
On dealing with the choppiness of the matchâĤ
âIt was a very choppy game. They came to interrupt, destroy and just commit fouls. We had a lot of fouls, but they werenât called. Credit to them. That was their game plan, and they executed it. Of course for us we wanted to play, but we didnât have the opportunity to play. We needed to adjust a little bit in the second half, but it was still choppy up and down. Weâll learn from it. We believe the next game is going to be pretty much the same, but itâs good we had the test today.â
