COLUMBUS CREW SPORTING DIRECTOR AND HEAD COACH GREGG BERHALTER
On tonight’s game:
It was big, looking around the League, looking at New England Revolution win last night and Toronto win this afternoon, there was added pressure in this game to perform. A home game, obviously we wanted to put in a game winning performance at home so it was important.
On home field advantage:
I think teams have a difficult time beating us here, especially as of late. We take pride in that, the fans have been great, they’ve been behind us and we look to really impose our game on the opponent. You come into a club and you have the ideas that we’re going to make the home field a fortress and you say all of that but it just doesn’t happen by words. You need to make it happen and I think if you look over the second half of the season we’ve made that happen. We’ve been very strong at home these last seven games.
On the team paying attention to other results:
Ideally, you wouldn’t want them seeing that at all and just go out and play, but of course you watch it. Our next week opponent was last night and we play the Philadelphia Union in a couple weeks. I think that it’s natural to look at the table and to feel a little bit of added pressure.
On the recent number of shutouts:
Today was a fantastic effort by Steve Clark to preserve the shut out, normally Marco Di Vaio scores that penalty and it’s not a shutout. Defensively, the guys have been very solid; they’ve been doing a great job. The team defending has been really good and when you can defend with eleven guys you can get shut-outs.
On his thoughts on the quick start to the game:
There was a focus on quick ball movement, creating early chances, that’s a focus we want to have in most games but today it was a great ball and a great finish. It was moving the ball from one side to the other and a penetrating pass. We wanted to do that, we wanted to come out and be aggressive and create chances early.
On the momentum after Ethan Finlay’s goal:
I thought we lost a little momentum, I thought we could have been more clinical in the first half. We had chances to make the second goal in the first half and we missed. They had some good efforts but were just wide or the goal got his hand to it, so I think we could have been a little bit better in that respect.
COLUMBUS CREW MIDFIELDER ETHAN FINLAY
On what was behind the fast start:
We knew it was important to start fast and start early. We emphasized getting the first goal. To get it two, three minutes into the game was a huge momentum booster. Maybe a little unlucky to get another one twenty minutes later. I thought it was a good first half. We were able to find our way in the second half. A complete 45 minutes. It was tough, and it was not always pretty, but it was a good game for us.
On the team’s reaction of scoring early in the game:
We expect to come out on top of them. We knew what their lineup was, and we were able to exploit them early and behind. We had some other chances right after that [opening goal]. But it is exactly what we expected. It was great that we were able to get one early into the game.
On the importance of tonight’s game with the next three games on the road:
It was incredibly important. We did not want to get too far ahead of this game, but we know we have a tough task ahead of us in October, and I think we are excited for it. We had a good road record at the start of the year, and we want to finish strong on the road. The next three games are going to be challenging, but I think we are up for it.
COLUMBUS CREW GOALKEEPER STEVE CLARK
On the outcome of match:
I feel really good. The results around the league are everyone is winning so we need to win. It felt good that we got an early goal by Ethan, that was fantastic and we just rolled after that.
On the strong start:
It was fantastic team shape and tactics, Ethan made the run behind and they didn’t have an answer. It was a great run by Ethan, a great ball and finish.
On big PK save:
A lot of that stuff and my saves are on Pat [Onstad]. The whole year he has been fantastic. He keeps all of the goalkeepers at such a high level. Matt [Lampson], Brad [Stuver] and Dan [Withrow] are all so good. Pat is giving me this great intel and our goalkeeping unit is so solid. Really, the tip goes to Pat for all of his hard work and keeping us sharp.
MOTREAL IMPACT HEAD COACH AND DIRECTOR OF PLAYER PERSONNEL FRANK KLOPAS
On his ejection:
I was just complaining. It was very hard for me to understand the PK call they called. I know Jeremy made some contact but the guy is going into the corner and there is no ball played or dangerous collisions in the corner and the guy calls a PK. I’ve never seen a softer PK call in my life. I said to him: in 30 games we played we had one PK called against us. I know he gave us one late but there was another hand ball in the box. For me, to give up a PK call like that and go down 2-0 it’s hard. I don’t want to go there, I know whatever I say will come back to bite me but it was a tough call on the road to go down 2-0 after giving up a very fast goal in the first two minutes.
On if the PK was turning point of the game:
If you fall 2-0 behind it’s difficult playing on the road but everything started from the beginning. We lose a ball in the middle, we didn’t win a challenge and they played it out. We should have done better. I think all of us could have done better on the first goal. We had some good moments but then we lost a little bit of momentum in the game. We didn’t communicate as much when they were overloading the sides but going down 2-0 it is difficult to come back on the road.
On Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare’s performance and future:
I think the kid has done well. I still have a lot of confidence in him. I know it wasn’t going to be with Finlay’s pace but I have all the confidence in him to put him back there. I think he has had two very good performances. Young players are going to have ups and down’s and we have to show him confidence and I believe in him.
On positives from tonight’s performance:
We had possession, we were in good spots. I think our ability in the final third has to be better and we need to be more disciplined. Even when we are losing we have to push the game but we have to push it in a way that we are still organized and compact. I think we lost a little bit of that. I know that we are not playing for a playoff but I said before that it is important for us in every game we play to give everything we have because we have a right to compete all the way until the end. The players are playing for a lot and we can’t go easy against any other team like we did in the beginning. There is still a lot to play for. We are building for next year and it is important that we finish out strong.
MONTREAL IMPACT MIDFIELDER JÉRÉMY GAGNON-LAPARÉ
On tonight’s result:
I think it was not a bad performance overall. Obviously, we gave up two bad goals, but I felt that the guys fought until the end. It’s not a good result, obviously, but it is not the end of the world.
On positives to take away from tonight’s match:
I think that even though we went down early in the game, we still managed to create a few chances. We could have come back, so that is a positive point, we didn’t get down after the first goal. We fought until the end of the game. I can say that when they scored the penalty, we went down but kept fighting so that is a positive.
On what to work on ahead of next weekend’s match with Chicago Fire:
I think we got to be a bit more compact defensively, try to push the other team wider. I think that cost us the first goal, so we will have to work a bit defensively.
MONTREAL IMPACT MIDFIELDER DILLY DUKA
On tonight’s result:
It’s tough to play away. I think when we create chances in the attacking third, if we don’t put them away, the other team will. It is just a matter of them putting away their chances and us not.
On positives to take away from tonight’s match:
We still create chances. Our attacking guys are going to create chances every game. Today we just couldn’t finish, we even had a PK. It just wasn’t going our way tonight in the attacking third. But we created the chances, we have the players that we can come to away games and win, today we were just unlucky.
On coming back to play in Columbus:
It’s always fun. Most of the team I played with when I was here are still here, maybe 75 percent of them. It is fun to stick it to them when I have a chance to; obviously it is not fun when they do it to me. They played well, good for them. They got the three points.
On what to work on ahead of next weekend’s match with Chicago Fire
I think there are a lot of positives that we are going to take away from this match. When we go to Chicago, we got to finish. We are going to create theopportunities; we just need to put them away now.
