COLUMBUS CREW SC SPORTING DIRECTOR AND HEAD COACH GREGG BERHALTER
On being up a man in the 2nd half
Well first of all, it’s a great way to open MAPFRE Stadium with a 2-0 win. It’s pretty special. But from my perspective, we started the second half and there wasn’t enough tempo in the game; we needed to push the tempo. They were defending on their left side with Giovinco and it made a lot of space for us that we just didn’t take advantage of. Once we started moving the ball quicker you saw how we were able to create chances. I’m proud of the way the guys played the whole 90 minutes, but especially to overcome that period in the second half when we started increasing the tempo and we started becoming dangerous.
On being concerned after a scoreless 1st half
No, the way we were playing we were going to score. It was a strong first half. I think both teams actually played well in the first half. It seemed like a good game to watch, but we were scoring tonight.
On handling Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore
That’s an interesting question because you can never really handle those guys. They’re real quality. Giovinco alone, he can change the game in an instant, so you always have to be aware. I think our defense did a really good job of dealing with him. There were a couple times when Giovinco and Jozy had some good chances and it was just a matter of getting organized and weathering the storm.
On how the red card changed the game
In a way it made us a little bit complacent to start the second half. It certainly had an effect on the game, but I thought the first half was strong – we had enough chances, we created a lot and we had good movements, I’m pleased. The second half was a little bit tougher, to be honest, to move the ball, but once we did we were fine.
On attacking up the middle
The guys did a great job of executing the game plan. We wanted to make it difficult, play between the lines and open up the play wide. We give credit to Wil [Trapp], Mohammed [Saeid] and Federico [Higuain], who are outstanding players on the ball. You can give them the ball in any spot and they’ll be fine, so I think they did a good job of that.
On Justin Meram’s return since national team call-up
That’s why he’s in the game. He hit the post a couple times, scored a goal. He’s dangerous. But what I liked most about his play tonight was his defensive play. His offense was great, but the effort he put in was exceptional and that’s why he’s a quality player.
On Kei Kamara’s goal celebration
I didn’t see it but I heard about it. That’s funny, that’s Kei. He has a big personality. It’s great and he’s made a big difference coming to this team with his personality and obviously the threat in the air and up top, and you see how defenders have to deal with him. He’s done a good job.
COLUMBUS CREW SC GOALKEEPER STEVE CLARK
On how the match went overall
I think it was a good team performance so I’m happy with the win.
On if it felt good to get the “Yes!” chant going again
It felt really good. I was happy with the turnout and the fans were great today. I thought there was a good atmosphere so it was nice.
On defending Toronto FC’s last-minute set piece
That’s a good question. That’s one thing I think we’ll take from the game. We need to work on that. We gave them a chance too easily. It’s a little bit unacceptable but we’ll work on it. We need to learn from it.
On the impact of the red card
Obviously it turned the game a bit but I think that we had the better of the play before the red card. Everyone saw that. They were a dangerous team so I think that took the air out of them. We were always going to keep a high tempo so it helped us out.”
COLUMBUS CREW SC MIDFIELDER ETHAN FINLAY
On how the club’s offense felt tonight
It felt great. I think we created a lot of opportunities in the first half and second half. It’s a great sign and to finish two and create as many chances as we do, we are looking forward to putting more away. It was a great start in our home field.
On the confidence level of the club at halftime
The confidence is extremely high, we have been finishing well in training and the movements have been working really well. I thought we finished well in the preseason, we knew it was going to come and I think we were really unfortunate to not have three or four tonight.
On the play that led to Justin Morrow’s red card
Just took a chance and took it off the center back and [Justin] Morrow made a last ditch effort. The referee made a decision, so it was definitely a momentum changer, and I was happy we were able to take advantage of that.
On how the red card changed the match
I think we knew we were going to have a majority of the possession. I think the most important thing was that were still creating chances and not putting ourselves to sleep, I think we were able to do that. I think we pushed the tempo still and were able keep possession and kill the game for the last 15-20 minutes.
On how he feels physically
Good, I am feeling good.
On how Crew SC defended against Toronto FC’s star players
We keyed in on [Sebastian] Giovinco and [Jozy] Altidore. You saw Mike [Parkhurst] tonight was just incredible, Altidore is a physical guy and he did not allow him to be physical and impose his will on him, so that’s a testament to Mike. He is such a smart guy and he does that to our big guys in training, I think and they get frustrated as well. With Giovinco, you just have to surround him with guys. He’s shifty and able to get out of really little tight spaces so we just tried to surround him and swarm him with guys, and we were able to do that tonight. Obviously, being up a man in the second half definitely helped us out.
TORONTO FC HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
On whether the red card was the difference maker in the game
It’s easy to say yes, I mean there were some moments in the first half that we had some things that we needed to take care of at halftime. Early in the half, I thought we had a couple really good looks at the goal, where several broke through and we won some balls in good spots. But, defensively, we needed to make a couple adjustments. When that mystery happens there at the end of the half, we have to make totally different adjustments. You can’t really bother with what happened in the first half. You just got to realign the team and just get them focused on playing a man down.
On the Justin Morrow tackle that was judged a red card
Yeah, it looked like he slid in. I saw the ball rolling like he got the ball and the next thing I know the guy is falling over. The referee is running at the play, he looks at the linesman and the linesman continues running like the play is still going, and then the next thing I know he is blowing the whistle. It was one of those last man plays for sure, but from my perspective and everything I’ve seen, I didn’t see a foul so I don’t know what the whole call is.
On whether he would be surprised if the red card got rescinded
It would not surprise me.
On Steven Caldwell coming off at halftime
He was having some problems with Achilles/calf area, so that was just a necessity. It wasn’t anything specifically tactically.
On tonight’s match
It wasn’t perfect for us in the first half; we had a few chances based off of things early on. We needed to adjust a little but defensively just to close them down a little bit earlier and a little bit better, but then the game gets redefined just before halftime. I would like for us to give it a little run there to try to keep ourselves into it. But, at the end of the day, for sure playing a man down in Columbus against a good team doesn’t define the season or anything, it’s just a speed bump. We move on and we continue to get better as a team.
On playing [Sebastian] Giovinco more centrally and Jozy [Altidore] to the left
It wasn’t actually so different from last week, it just ends up because we sat back a little bit more defensively, they end up flatting out a little bit. That was the main reason it looked different, but Sebastian [Giovinco] has the opportunity to drop in and help in midfield create numbers advantages in midfield and Jozy [Altidore] and Robbie [Findley] can get closer together and play as forwards, it is just how the game went a little bit.
TORONTO FC MIDFIELDER MICHAEL BRADLEY
On how the red card altered the team’s mindset coming into the second half
Obviously a red card changes a game. We got to halftime, tweaked things a little bit and still felt like everything was there to play for and that the game was still going to play out in a way that we could control, even down a guy. I think we lost concentration on two plays defending inside our own box and obviously the margin for error is so small, and then when you go down to 10 men it was even smaller, so when you’re not quite as sharp as you need to be on both ends then it makes for a difficult night.
On if he said anything to the team as the captain at halftime
No, like I said we felt like even with the red card that there was still going to be a big chance for us to get something going for the game. Obviously we feel like we have a good team and we still have confidence when things don’t go perfectly or when things don’t go our way, that we can still come away with points. On that end there is disappointment for sure that even despite the gulp down to ten men we weren’t quite good enough in the second half in decisive moments and weren’t able to get something from the game.
On his talk with referee David Gantar as the teams were walking off at halftime and if he received an explanation for the call
No. I mean for me, at the end of it when you have the luxury of watching it on replay, it’s probably a little bit soft, but obviously we put ourselves in a bad position. When our guy is running in like that and you put yourself in a position where the referee has to then make a call, it can go one of two ways, and today it went the wrong way for us. Like I said, when you have the luxury of being able to slow it down and look back at it, for me it’s a tough one but it’s probably not a red card. It certainly is one that you see given at times and tonight he chose to give it. For me, the biggest disappointment is not that, it’s just that now even with that in the second half I still felt that were going to be able to control things in a smart way and still find our chances to play and get opportunities of our own. I just don’t think in the decisive moments in the second half, at both ends, that we were good enough.
TORONTO FC DEFENDER JUSTIN MORROW
On the red card
The play happened. The only thing that I’ll say is I thought that I got the ball, I’ll have to take a look at the replay again. It is what it is.
On if the red card was the turning point of the match
Yeah, I thought we did a good job in the first half to kind of weather the storm and get to halftime at 0-0. Playing away on the road and down a man is obviously a hard thing to do. I think that showed in the second half tonight.
On if this result was a defining testament to the team’s character as the season goes on
I’ve been around long enough to know that it’s a long season. This is only the second game of the season, there are ups and downs and we still have a long way to go.
