Post match quotes: D.C. United 2 - Philadelphia Union 2

D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN

Thoughts on the match:

It is obviously disappointing to tie again, and it hurts a little bit more because it was the second one [at home]. But putting that aside, we brought two new guys into the team this week, and I thought it was a pretty good game overall. It was a pretty entertaining game.

Overall I am very disappointed for not getting the three points, but I am pleased with some of the performances out there. And it’s not the end of the world. If that [Philadelphia Union] is the number one team in the East, I think we have a good chance. We just have to find a way to close our games when we are up.

On Dwayne De Rosario’s performance:

I thought overall [De Rosario] had a pretty good night – he worked his tail off. It was a long week for him, not only because of the traveling, but also emotionally. I appreciate his effort tonight, and I thought he is a very good addition.

On Brandon McDonald’s performance:

I thought McDonald was very good too. He was steady and I thought he was a leader back there, and he helped us out defensively.

We probably got more chances than in any other game. We were kind of living on the edge for stretches; we were good for 20 minutes, and then [Philadelphia] would come at us for 15 to 20 minutes. Again, I am not pleased with the result.

On Andy Najar’s goal:

It was a great goal, unbelievable. He is a special player and he makes special plays sometimes. Even after that his work rate was very good on both ends.

On his substitutions:

I thought Charlie [Davies] had a little trouble getting into the game, and I felt like the game needed a change. Blake [Brettschneider] came in and gave us some good energy, and then we wanted to push Dwayne [De Rosario] up and get him a little closer to the goal, so we brought in Fred. Again, it was a long week for Dwayne; so right after the second goal I was going to pull him out for Joe [Ngwenya]. But we needed a goal, and you don’t take De Rosario off if you need a goal.

On the mistakes made by the young defenders:

I think they’ll rebound; they are big boys. You saw the last goal. They catch us back door and during the 90 minutes there were many times when [Philadelphia] were right behind us. Give them credit - running off the ball is what they do best. When [Carlos] Ruiz or [Sebastien] Le Toux have the ball the other guys slide right behind them – they are committed. 

D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER ANDY NAJAR

On his long distance goal:

I’m so happy for the goal I scored. I can’t believe I scored a goal like that from long distance.

Overall thoughts on the match:

It was a great game, but we didn’t get the three points. We still worked hard and we will keep going from here.

On United’s attack and Dwayne De Rosario:

It’s nice to play with a guy like [De Rosario] – he has a lot of spirit, and I’m so happy to have a great player in the middle.

D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER DWAYNE DE ROSARIO

On his overall impressions of the game:

You know, it’s a story of two tales. There were some great moments, and there were some moments that we need to work on – some mental lapses that we can correct. Moving forward, there were a lot of positives to build on. We know that going forward in this League it’s very important to get three points at home. We weren’t able to do that tonight against a tough opponent, a team that is first in the East. That’s why [Philadelphia] are first, they see games out and we have to learn from tonight and build on that. Right now there are a lot of learning curves, and hopefully the guys can look at the game and learn from our mistakes.

On his first match for D.C. United:

It’s huge, D.C. is a club with a lot of history. You put on that jersey and see four stars, it’s prideful, and each time you put that jersey on you see how hard the guys play for it. It’s a mindset, you see how long it takes to win championships, and that’s what we need to work hard each day at training.

On United’s attack:

These guys understand the game at a high level, and they make quality runs. A guy like Charlie [Davies] impacted the game in different ways, he made a lot of good runs and gave us space out there by drawing a lot of attention. The same with [Josh] Wolff. He made a lot of good runs, and for the goal he cut across the six-yard box and hit [the ball] near post and finished the chance. It’s good to come into a situation like this and to have an immediate impact and help the team. I’m looking forward to continuing an understanding with those guys.

PHILADELPHIA UNION HEAD COACH PETER NOWAK

Overall thoughts on the game:

I think the important thing is that on a night like tonight when we did not play well, we still got the point. We came back and tied the game in a very good fashion. The boys are still fighting so this is a good sign and after half of the season right now it is good to be where we are right now. We see that games are very difficult and you’ve got to be prepared and I think in the first half we weren’t prepared. So, we were lucky, but I think it was important to get the point from here. The team is still behind us and it was the second game in a row where we came back and scored goals. The one point is one point, so we’re moving forward.

On D.C. United:

With the additions that [D.C. United] has had with [Dwayne] De Rosario and Brandon McDonald to stabilize their defenders and also bring options up top, I think they’ve become a team that everybody will look after and playing here at RFK Stadium is never easy for anybody. With the point we are moving forward and even though on a night like tonight when we didn’t play our best, we still came back and we still fought for this point. That’s the whole story of this game.

PHILADELPHIA UNION FORWARD CARLOS RUIZ

On the game:

It was a good game for us. We still are fighting for first place in our conference and it was a great tie against D.C. away.

On his team twice coming back from behind:

Coming back was very difficult. It was a great effort from my teammates. We played good [and] I think we created good opportunities. This tie is good for us.

On his goal:

It was a great collective play. It was a great run from Sheanon Williams and a great pass from Sebastien Le Toux. I think those were the crosses I was looking for all game in front of the goal. I had one with my head and the goalkeeper made a great save, but the [goal] with my foot was difficult for him. We tied the game [and] that is a good result at the end of the day for us.

PHILADELHPIA UNION DEFENDER DANNY CALIFF

On the game:

I think overall [the game] was pretty back-and-forth. I think we definitely had some chances and [D.C. United] had some chances to put the game away and put ourselves out in front, but it feels good for us to go down twice and have the character to come back out and tie the game up. So, we feel good about that.

On playing against D.C.’s revamped offense:

I think [D.C. United] is pretty dynamic with their top five. I think they’re moving in and out – Pontius is coming inside and Najar is coming outside. There’s a lot of place changing and I think it’s only going to get better for them going forward as they start to gel. I was bummed that we gave up two goals, but at the same time I think we did a decent job limiting what they wanted to do.