Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Mike Petke
On the chances created:
“Does anyone have a stat sheet in front of them because I haven’t looked yet. How many shots did we have? 27. I thought it was around 25 or something like that. I don’t think they had a shot in the first half, they were exactly who we thought they were going to be. And we almost left ourselves exposed a few times to what they are, a very direct counter attacking team. But we did more than enough to get three points. You know just like a handful of games this year already, we just couldn’t find the back of the net. You know maybe it’s me, maybe we should do more finishing on goal throughout the week, perhaps. The point is I didn’t think about the Colorado game from last year until you just said that, but that is a very good comparison because it feels strange.”
On what was missing in the final third:
“I’ll never say it was a lack of quality, because I think we have a lot of quality players. Bad fortune here, rushing it there, one touch too many, perhaps. But yeah, like I said what kind of possession did we have? Sixty five percent. We had the ball, you know, and again we left ourselves open a couple of times for the counterattack. But we did a good job recovering, getting it out, and we had opportunities. So frustrating night, but a point nonetheless.”
On San Jose's goal:
“We talked about this a number of times. After before I comment on it I want to go watch it over again. I was looking elsewhere, and I saw the rebound, knew Nicky had the save, and they put it away. I can’t comment on that, I’m not about to.”
On Justin’s injury:
“Precaution. That’s all I have for you right now, just precaution”
On positives from the match:
“Getting at them in their final third, we had a number of shots/chances created. I think a number of players had some very good defensive moments tonight. But it's tough to be honest with you to take away too many positives because it is essentially a loss, to be honest with you.”
On Besler's entrance:
“It was a tough situation, you know. Get him off quick to warm up and looked to get him in quick. I thought he did well. Nick is calm, he's composed, you know it runs in the Besler family, confident with the ball, put himself in good positions. I thought Nick did exactly what we asked him to do.”
Midfielder Albert Rusnak
On the shots created tonight:
“I mean we had one huge chance in the first-half with Corey. I think if we did score that one then we would have gone one nil in the half-time and they would’ve had to approach the game differently the second-half. Anyway, we did go one up so it doesn’t make any difference. A poor goal to concede we had the ball, we lost it and then a rebound goal, just an ugly goal to be honest, and with all the chances it would have taken one more chance for us to win the game. It felt like Colorado last year, when we absolutely killed them and just couldn’t score a goal, it feels like a loss to me.
On the two-week break:
“Not really, because we still trained, and we practiced throughout the weeks, both weeks. We did do a lot of final third stuff, a lot of finishing and crossing and we scored off a set piece. That is also another thing that we spoke about this week. We created chances and dictated the whole game, so there is a lot of positives to take out from that game, but at the end of the game the most important result and that was not what we wanted today.”
On his hot that went off crossbar:
“I was seeing the shot going in then suddenly at the last second it just rose the bar and hit the crossbar. So, I had a couple of chances myself, but none of them went in, but as you said twenty-eight shots at target and one goal it is probably a lack of quality.”
Forward Corey Baird
On his chance in the 11th minute:
“Albert found some space and the center back kind of half stepped. They sent me the ball and I scuffed the shot. There is not much else to say. That’s one of those chances that you have to put away and it’s a completely different game.”
On his view of Damir’s goal:
“We knew that they were zoning so all we had to do was get across our guy. I was getting across the near post guy trying to flick it on and put it towards goal. I didn’t know much about where Damir was. I was just trying to flick the ball on and he made a great run to get on the end of it. It was definitely a breakthrough moment but ten minutes after that we didn’t play well. We didn’t control the game. We just gave the ball away cheaply. That gave them opportunities, that gave them confidence to get back in the game.”
On agreeing that this game feels like a loss:
“Yeah that pretty accurate amongst the team based on the chances we had and how we played and how we know we can play that we didn’t get three points.”
Sebastian Saucedo
On the attacking success tonight:
“Honestly, the other team didn’t come to play. They were just waiting on counter attacks and that gave us a lot of opportunity to go forward and attack. The tie felt like a loss and we should have capitalized on the opportunities we had in front of goal.”
On the positives he saw from the match:
“The team scoring. Obviously, we didn’t lose. Goals keep coming and I feel like we’re in a great situation going forward to the next game. Everyone is still motivated to get three points in Columbus. Not every game is going to be perfect at home but we have to go through slumps to be able to achieve those three points anywhere else. But we did a good job recovering, getting it out, and we had opportunities. So frustrating night, but a point nonetheless.”
San Jose Earthquakes
Head Coach Mikael Stahre
On the team’s performance:
“It was a pretty okay result for us. Salt Lake possessed the ball better than us, especially in the first half and also created more chances. We stepped up a little bit in the second half and after we conceded a goal we also stepped up a little bit and created chances. I think it was quite an equal game.”
On San Jose’s response after first goal:
“We are in a bad situation in this league. We are struggling result wise so that’s why I’m really happy the guys came back and scored a goal. It’s still one point on the road and I’m pretty happy with the result.”
On San Jose’s defensive performance:
“I have to say Salt Lake has some really good players, they are really quick and really technical. We lost the ball too many times, especially in the beginning of the second half and the first half we had a little bit of problem with the switches side to side. A little bit better in the defense for sure.”
Forward Danny Hoesen
On the team’s performance:
“It was just a lot of fight. Coming here with the altitude the heat was not easy. They have some good players and had some nice possession game, but I think we stayed in the game for the full 90 minutes. I had a chance to make the winner, but they also had chances. I think we can be happy with the 1-1.”
On tying in goals for the season:
“As a striker people look at goals and assists. I’m having a good season number wise. Ten is a good number. I don’t think my performance was any good today, but I scored again so for me, that’s a good moment.”
On his goal:
“I think it was score-able to Vako at the top of the box. He took the shot and I learned as a striker you have to go for the rebound. The goalie dropped it and I only saw one way to score and that was to chip it over.”
Goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell
On the pressure:
“Defense did a good job at the end of the game. We had a lot of pressure on us so we were able to make a couple of plays, a couple of clearances to keep it a draw. It was good concentration by everybody in the back.”
On RSL chances:
“Our defense did a really good job of making them shoot from distance so all the chances weren’t clear on goal, so I had the opportunity to know which side they were going which helps me a lot. Our defense did a really good job of not giving them clear opportunities.”
On the RSL goal:
“As soon as it gets to the near post, I’ve got to shuffle to the near post. Once he deflects back towards the middle it was passed me. I would have to go back and watch the film but that’s a tough one for our guys. It was a good ball in for them and two good headers.”
On defensive improvement:
“We’re just focused on improving every day, not worrying too much about the results, just focusing on having good performances and going out every day and trying to improve. We had a decent night tonight.”
