Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the atmosphere at JELD-WEN Field...
"I was saying to the rest of the staff, I think this atmosphere is the best atmosphere we've played in on the road. The crowd was fantastic and we knew this was going to be a very difficult place to play. It's a great environment to play a soccer game. This is what we've been striving for for years in the league."
On his opponent...
"I have a lot of respect for John Spencer. I think he's a good coach. I played against him when we played in the league and I knew their team was going to be hard and competitive, and with the crowd on top of that, it was very difficult. We knew they were going to come out very aggressive and one of the things we said before this game was that we have to match their competitiveness. We knew they were going to compete and we had to make sure that we competed as well."
On getting the early goal...
"What really helped us was getting the early goal – it kind of took the crowd a little bit out of it, and with the second goal even a little more so. C.J. (Sapong) did a good job at turning it, one thing that's very good in his game as a young guy. As a forward he plays very well with his back to the goal and his turn was fantastic. He had a lot of composure to slip that ball into the back of the net."
On giving up a goal before halftime...
"Getting that goal right before half was huge for them. It got their crowd back into it when we started the second half."
On managing the game...
"I think we gave up too many set pieces for them to be able to hit balls into the box. Outside of that, even though they scored, we didn't lose composure, we stayed disciplined and compact in the way we defended."
On climbing up the standings...
"When we played 10 games on the road, we completely lost the connection to our fan base. I think that was a big miscalculation on our part when we went into that 10-game stretch not really knowing what it was going to be like."
Sporting Kansas City Defender Matt Besler,
On his first MLS assist...
"It's nice to help out on the attacking end of things since I play defender, but the big thing for us is the win. It's a huge win for us."
On the atmosphere at JELD-WEN Field...
"I was impressed. Everyone comes here and says they're impressed. They did a good job and I can see why the Timbers have a good record at home."
On the improvement of play for Sporting KC...
"I think it's just confidence. During the 10-gamee stretch that we had on the road, we thought we were playing well but things just weren't going our way, so it's tough, when you don't get results, to keep your head up and to say, ‘Keep going, it's going to be okay.’ For some reason, right now things are clicking and we're very confident."
Sporting Kansas City Forward CJ Sapong
On the atmosphere at JELD-WEN Field...
"The atmosphere was great. I think it worked for both sides. It's hard not to be pumped up for a game out here. It's definitely top tier in the league. The fans make it a very great experience. Me being a rookie there's only a few places that have left me with the type of feeling that this place left me."
On the early goal...
"I got a ball played into me and felt the defender pressing me to my left shoulder so I just let it run across my body and turn and then just went straight to goal and it snuck in there."
On improvement of play...
"It was mainly just getting that game in at home, finally getting a good win under our belts and reiterating to ourselves that we're capable of doing a lot of damage. We knew it at the beginning of the season but no one else did. Obviously, being 10 games away, it's tough to get results but we stuck with it. It made us closer in the locker room and at the end of the day, all that really matters is the people in the locker room that believe in each other and it's showing now."
Portland Timbers Manager John Spencer
On the overall result...
"I think we dug ourselves into such a deep hole. In the second half, I just thought we were pressing and couldn't get the quality on the final pass that would give us a chance to score a goal. Crosses into the box were too long and we just couldn't get a decent look on goal."
On rookie midfielder Darlington Nagbe's first career goal...
"We've been fortunate in the last month to see three of the best goals in world soccer. (Eric) Hassli's up at Seattle, (Graham) Zusi's against Dallas and that one tonight. If Cristiano Ronaldo scores that goal it's splattered all over the globe. We've been fortunate enough that three MLS players have scored three world-class goals."
On the team's demeanor after dropping another loss...
"We're lacking a lot of confidence right now. When you get out of the gates like we did at home, going five (games) unbeaten, I think guys get the feeling that we could go unbeaten at home all season and they're young. Experience-wise we've got a lot to learn. We've got tremendous young players, if you look at the top young players in the league right now, it took them a while to get where they're at right now."
On trying to right the ship...
"Guys are on the ropes and we've got to get ourselves back on track. The quicker we get back to getting the first goal and getting a little bit of confidence through ourselves again, that's what we need. We've got another big game coming up, one on Thursday, and then one on Sunday against our dearest rivals."
Portland Timbers Goalkeeper Troy Perkins
On the result...
"It's quite a hole that we put ourselves in. I didn’t help us out tonight; I think the first goal is my fault. We just have to find ourselves again and what made us a winning team and get back to our winning ways. I think we'll be okay. We're going to get back to work and sort all this out."
On letting in Sporting KC’s first goal...
"I saw it really late. I didn't even see it leave his foot. It was one of those where you see about four sets of legs and then it is there."
On the team’s defense...
"I don't think organization or tactics is the thing that's killing us right now. It's just little mistakes from me all the way up and we've got to put a stop to it."
Portland Timbers Midfielder Jack Jewsbury
On his late attempt to tie the game...
"I hit it well, it was close. I would've liked to put it on frame because I thought he was going the other way, but definitely a disappointing result for us."
On Nagbe's goal...
"It was obviously a great strike, very timely. We were pushing to get a goal to get us back within one before halftime and it was a great goal, a great first (career) goal that got us back in the game."
On the result...
"I think they had a gameplan of kind of bunkering in and countering. Once they got their two goals it makes it a bit easier to play that style. We had to continue to press, but we had some chances and just couldn't capitalize."
On how to break the winless streak...
"I think guys need to continue to have that belief that we've got to continue to fight and continue to work hard for one another, knowing that that's the only thing that's going to get us out of this rut."
Portland Timbers Midfielder Darlington Nagbe
On his first career goal...
"The ball went in (off a cross) and popped back out, I was going to hit it first-time but it didn't fall right so I just controlled it and hit it and thankfully it went in."
On his reaction...
"It felt great, but being two goals down I felt like it was a good spark (to get back into the game)."
On embracing John Spencer after scoring...
"He told me I was going to score yesterday. That's what it was about."
