D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen
On the overall thoughts on the game:
Dave Kasper called it a gut check and I think that’s about right. It was a poor start for us and a very good start for them. They were hungry and physical, and we weren’t good enough with the ball to deal with their pressure. It cost us a goal, and then we woke up. We were able to get out of it tonight, but against some teams you’re not going to be able to get out of it. They’re a different team, a changed team that’s playing with hunger and a fire about them. It’s a tough team to play against, and I’m really happy that we were able to dig in and find a way to win after a poor start.
On giving up early goals in back-to-back games and if it’s a worry for down the road:
Yeah, absolutely it’s concerning. You have to think about this game all week, or however many days you have after your last game. You have to switch on, and you have to prepare for these games. That starts at the whistle, and that means you’re bringing everything you got. I thought they did that, and we didn’t. But to the guys’ credit, that wasn’t an easy game. It was physical, and we found a way, like these guys usually do.
On the foul when Maurice Edu seemed to grab Davy Arnaud’s arm in the first half:
I haven’t seen a replay of that yet, but it looked like something from the bench.
On the handball called in the second half that led to the penalty kick:
I didn’t see that either. The linesman seemed pretty sure about it, and give him credit for making a bold call. Overall, it’s a big three points. It’s been a long week. No matter if you keep guys home and they are training on their own with the Under-23 team, or its guys who have been traveling, it’s a long week when you add it all up. To dig in and find a way to win says a lot about these guys.
On Taylor Kemp passing some open opportunities in the first half to cross the ball:
He wasn’t as aggressive as we wanted him to be from the onset. Sebastian Le Toux was always able to get goal side of him, and he needed to force the issue a little more, especially after the goal. They were sitting back and he needed to be more aggressive. We told him that at half time and I thought that part got better. He pulled up a little bit lame and [Chris] Korb came on and did a good job. I thought the subs all did great. [Miguel] Aguilar came in and put on a mature performance and Jairo [Arrieta] brought that fire that he usually does.
On if there is a concern about Taylor’s injury:
Yeah. Look, you can only ask these guys to do so much. You play a game, then fly them to Portland and fly them back and ask them to play a heavy game like this; some guys are going to go down.
On the team falling behind and coming back to win and what he can contribute that to:
Bad starts (laughs). That’s part of it right? But there’s a lot of courage in that group. They aren’t shy of challenges and they will more times than not rise to the occasion. But, we would like to not have to come from behind, in particular at home. We would like to really put our stamp on the game from the opening whistle.
D.C. United Midfielder Chris Pontius:
On the thoughts on the game:
I thought we had a decent amount of possession and it was tough to break them down. We got the goal back at the end of the half and the second half was wide open, and it could have gone either way, and fortunately it fell our way.
On Taylor Kemp’s assist:
Yeah, Taylor has one of the best left foots in the league so any time he gets time to serve we look to whip balls in, and thank God it came before half and we had time to regroup.
On what scoring before half does going in to the second half:
It’s huge. Coming in here down 1-0 is different than 1-1, especially mentally for us and how we were playing at that moment. It was big for us.
On giving up early goals but being able to come back and win a game:
These past two games we have started slow, Portland and now against Philadelphia, and you don’t want to have to be clawing your way in to games. We managed to do it tonight and it wasn’t the prettiest game. I think our best soccer is still to come. We haven’t been clean in a lot of areas of our game and I think it’s slowly coming along. As a team we know we can do a lot better.
D.C. United Defender Steve Birnbaum
On the start before eventually earning the victory:
You know we started off pretty slow. First half wasn’t really what we wanted, You know we wanted to come out on a strong foot and kind of put them under pressure and it was kind of the opposite. We had a lot of possession. It was hot out there and we wanted to make them defend for most of the game. We ended up getting the win so the results were what we wanted and that’s what we got.
On returning after a long layoff:
The first half of the Portland game, I thought I was a little rusty. And then I kind of started figuring it out early in the second half that. I’m feeling like I’m basically there. I’m just excited to be out there.
Philadelphia Union Head Coach Jim Curtin
On his thoughts about how the game went and that late penalty:
Obviously they’re the top team in the East, I think in the first half we came out really strong we had a chance to go up 2-0 with Andrew’s look at goal and had another head ball that we had an opportunity to go up 2-0 on. If you let a team like D.C. hang around they’ll take advantage, and to give up the goal before the half was difficult, but at the same time my message at half time was we played very well, we played a good half. I was happy with the group, and we were a little unfortunate on the hand ball there. You’ve seen that let go especially at that moment in the game, it wasn’t intentional but you understand it could be called. I was most disappointed, if you’re going to talk about the decisions, I thought we could have had a red card in our favor for Seba[Sebastien Le Toux] where he gets taken down on the break away. There’s a lot to be proud of with our guys fight and their effort in the game.
On the early goal and what he noticed those first fifteen minutes:
We’ve talked all week about our high pressure in our attacking half. So when we turn the ball over, in that first five seconds, can we win it back close to goal? We did a good job at that, we created a lot of chances just unfortunate on the day a couple of little breaks didn’t go our way. We have no time to feel sorry for ourselves because we’ve got to get ready for Columbus. Guys are confident right now, you can tell this team is much different than in previous weeks. There’s a lot of fight and were creating a lot of chances and there are positives to build on.
On the defensive effort:
I thought defensively we were very good, but it shows the fine line. If you fall asleep for one second on a good team like we did before the end of the half, Kemp gets a free service and they committed four guys in the box to our three and they make a good play. For forty five minutes we were good and everyone was doing their job, for a split second we fall asleep and it ends up in goal.
Philadelphia Union defender Maurice Edu
On the defensive effort of the team:
I think the last three games we’ve defended well as a group. Collectively we’ve done a good job at closing down and moving together and not giving up too many chances. I think in the first half that was their only shot on goal and that’s a credit to the whole group, putting in the shift, putting in the effort, working their asses off. The second half the game was little more open, there were a few more chances on either end and then the penalty. It’s a difficult one to take especially at that time in the game. We thought they maybe should have had a red card on the play with Seba[Sebastien Le Toux]. It’s one of those games where you put in the effort and come up a little bit short. All we can do now, we’ve got a quick turnaround, game on Wednesday against Columbus at home. Now it’s just about making sure we’re doing the proper things to recover and get ready for that game.
On the team’s energy level to start the game:
I think the past couple of games we were rewarded for our hard work. Despite the way the results went in the earlier part of the season, we kept our heads up, worked hard in training and were rewarded these last couple of games. We came out this game confident and believing in ourselves and our ability. We went out to pressure and put them on the back foot and we did that. The whole group pressured as a unit and were able to create that first goal and could have had a second, maybe a third in that first half. I think it’s about taking the positives from this game, we’ve showed we can create chances and are a team that can go and press the game so now it’s about going back home and doing that against Columbus.
Philadelphia Union Midfielder Sebastien Le Toux
On his first goal of the year, and scoring early:
Yea, I mean, we definitely did stuff in the game very well. We can be up 2-0 or 3-0 at the half and we cannot get enough energy as we wanted to. It’s nice to get my first goal this year, but I would have preferred a win with that goal, but now we have to move on and focus on the other ones.
On the overall offensive effort and where guys are and where they need to be:
I think we did everything we had to, especially in the first half. In the second half, legs would be tired and D.C. was pushing a bit more. The goal right before the half cannot put us angry at ourselves because we will have to be up at the half, 1-0. It was not a good reaction. I think we played okay in the second half. I think after re-seeing the video for me it’s a red card, that foul on me in the second half. The referee just give us yellow. We have to be nice with our own team and don’t help the team we play against. It was a really tough because they had a PK and, not purposely, but to him they did a PK and it seems they should have re-ruled that as a red card against D.C., but it’s already done so you just feel frustrated. You get some help here and there from the refs. They didn’t help the game this way. I think we reviewed everything on the field we had and unfortunately D.C. got the win. We played good especially in the first half.
On having Vincent and Chaco both healthy in the lineup:
It’s two good players that play well. It’s great of them to have seen for the first time since the beginning of the year and playing together. They help us a lot building our offense. We can do better but you can see right now we have ourselves in a good spot and good play. And fortunately today Andrew hit the cross bar, I finished mine and we probably have some other team contact. It’s good from them and definitely helped a lot during the game.
