QUOTE SHEET
Real Salt Lake 1-1 Sporting Kansas City
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
November 4, 2018
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Mike Petke
On his thoughts of the result:
“It’s halftime right now. I will say my players credit because they were a little tired. Kansas City is top of the West for a reason. They’re extremely organized and won’t give you anything but tonight we didn’t give them much in terms of getting big time opportunities on goal. Second half we came out with a heck of a lot more gusto, but in the first half we were kind of slow with the ball movement and our off-ball movement but our shape was very good for our second straight game. It was an unfortunate situation on their goal, but it’s half time right now. It’s 1-1. With a week’s rest, fresh with that same mentality as far as being compact and the off ball gets better, I’m looking forward to the game next Sunday.”
On Switching the point of attack:
“Nick had the most touches on the ball, that he has had all year in the first half. That is a credit to Sporting, because they are extremely organized and they move very well. Our ball movement was not quick enough. If you couple a team that moves very well together and the ball movement is slow, it makes it that much more difficult to penetrate. I thought we got into good spots, but again, we were slow in reacting, slow in moving the ball, and facing forward. That could come down to heavy legs. Obviously playing against the number one team in the west, put it all together. I think in the second half, the off-ball movement was a lot better. We found Albert a lot more and Sunny who took a higher position, to turn and go. At the end of the day, it is halftime and we have a second day halftime.”
On the performance that led to the RSL goal:
“It was better off ball movement. It was quicker passes. In the first half a lot of this guy to the guy next to him to the guy next to him and it was slow. Allows them shift and clog stuff up very easily. We bypassed players a bit more in the second half, the ball movement was quicker and the off-ball movement was quicker which allowed us to find gaps. That’s not easy against a team like Kansas City because they are very well organized. The first half was a bit heavy legs and whatever reasons the second half we came out with a lot more energy and find those gaps.”
On looking forward to next game:
“It’s going to be a completely different game. It’s going to be on the road in Kansas City, a place where we got result earlier this year, but it’s going to be against a team that is going to play a bit differently. The only things that won’t change is their organization but they are going to be a lot more aggressive going forward. We’ve dealt with that this year many times. Many times we weren’t successful and many times, like four days ago, we were successful. As long as we are organized and not giving anything away, we are going to work on being a lot more explosive in transition and a lot more mobile and quicker on the off-ball movement to create gaps turn and face forward and them in their half. We have six and half days. It’s a tough task going into place like that against a team like this.”
Midfielder Albert Rusnák
On what he saw in the goal:
“I was open on the edge of the box, and I was asking for the ball, actually, earlier than when Brooks played it. In the end, when he [Brooks] played it, somebody stepped out to me. I just had a vision to play it one two and hit it one time. The set from Damir was perfect. Although it was with his head, it was not easy, it was probably as hard as to score the goal. That gave us the lead, but it was disappointing also that we conceded five-ten minutes right after that. Ideally, we would like to be one nil up, and then we would see if they would push for a goal later on, or they would’ve been happy with the 1-0. A 1-0 would have been a great result. Without giving up any goals, and you go into the second leg as a favorite. As of right now, Kansas City will be the favorite, so we will have to go there and get a win.”
On His Yellow Card:
“It was my first foul of the game. I didn’t even catch him with the studs. I just slid and I slid my body into his. You see these kinds of tackles all over the world that are not getting booked. But here, for some reason, these kinds of fouls are getting yellow cards. I don’t know whether it’s because it’s playoffs, maybe the referees are more careful about these things, I don’t know what. I told the ref after the game that a yellow for a third or a fourth foul, I’ll accept it. But for the first one, and that kind of foul, which means I’m going to miss a game. For me that’s unacceptable. But at the end of the day, referees can make mistakes as well.”
On getting a week of rest before the next game
“One of those reasons why we weren’t as fresh today was because we had a tough game on Thursday. I think every single player left everything out there in LA, so it was a short recovery for this game. On the other side, we were at home today, so we knew we had to push the play and try to win the game. We obviously weren’t as sharp as we were in LA, or as we would have been if we had a couple more days off. This week will give us a full recovery; physically, mentally, and it will give us a week to prepare tactically as well, away at Kansas City. I think it can be done. It’s playoffs so if you do want to advance, you’re going to have to win, whether it’s at home or on the road.
Midfielder Damir Kreilach
On Albert Rusnák’s goal:
“It was a beauty. We just understand us, not just me and Albert, I mean the whole team today was compact. Sporting didn’t create many opportunities and it looked good. We have to be better offensively for sure but at the end of the day we can catch Sporting in Kansas City. We have one target and it is to go through (to the next round).”
On preparing for next Sunday’s matchup:
“We have a lot of confidence. After the LAFC game we are 100% in. We had two tough games in three days. At the end of the day, the result came out and we have to be satisfied with these two games. We will now have to prepare for the next game, and give the best of us to go through.”
On adjusting without Albert Rusnak in the next game:
“It’s tough because he is one of the main players on our team but at the end of the day we have a big roster and everyone of us put in work this season. I’m sure the player who will come in for Albert will give it his best. We don’t care about that. It’s tough for the team, but in the end we are one team and we will give the best of us to create a result in Kansas City.”
Sporting Kansas City
Head Coach Peter Vermes
On Diego Rubio getting the goal right off the bench:
“First off, he is deadly in and around the box when he gets those kinds of opportunities. The other is, I think he is a little bit of a magnet. We talked about it at half time, I don’t think we turned them over enough in their half and we talked about wanting to turn them over in the second half, a little bit closer to goal. He comes on and we turned it over right then, he took it and fired away. It’s a great away goal, especially with the way that playoffs are. It’s a big goal. It’s good to get a result here and now go home.”
On the performance through the first half:
“I think both teams were almost feeling each other out. ‘who’s going to do what?’ and nobody ever took the game. Then, in the second half they had some moments, we had some moments, again nobody really grabbed it. It was just they have it a little bit, we have it a little bit, a little bit of back and forth, but nobody really ever hammered it home.”
On the 2ndleg match next week:
“It’s going to be a really tough match because at the end of the day somebody has to win. Right now, it’s a tie so the game takes on a different perspective because the first game is tied. They aren’t going to sit back. They are going to play, try to score, and try to win which is what I would expect. I don’t think it’s going to make for a bad game. It’s going to make for a playoff game for sure.”
Defender Matt Besler
On getting the equalizer and the result on the road:
“There isn’t much to say because it’s half time. It’s an interesting situation when you have these two-leg series. The game is completed but it feels halfway over. There is still a lot of work to do and it’s still anybody’s series to play for. Do we feel good about going home and having everything in front of at home? Yeah, it feels good. If we are able to go home and win the game then we will advance and that’s a positive. As far as what you can take from the game, we weathered a bit of a storm and we knew we would have to do that. This is not an easy place to come in and play, especially in the playoffs. There were moments in the game where we absorbed pressure. They were able to get their goal, but our response was excellent like it’s been all year, and we were able to get a really big away goal. Those things are huge now with them counting for so much in these series.
On Diego Rubio’s performance:
“Diego’s a perfect example of what a teammate should be. Whether he starts or doesn’t start, whether he comes in or doesn’t even make the eighteen. He is always a team first guy, always focused, so that when he does get his opportunities, he makes the most of them. Tonight, was another example. It came quicker than I thought it was going to come; it was probably his first touch of the game, it felt like. It was a really great goal and an excellent finish.”
On confidence going into the second game:
“It’s halftime. There is a lot of work to be done. We know that, we understand that. The guys put in a lot of work tonight but we have our heads down and are focused on our mission. That is to go home and win the game.”
