LOS ANGELES GALAXY 2, FC DALLAS 1
LOS ANGELES GALAXY HEAD COACH STEVE SAMPSON
Importance of tonight's game with two weeks off:
"It gives us our best opportunity, given a good result versus San Jose to host the home-field advantage. Colorado has on paper some matches they should win. So I think it's going to go all the way down to the very end. As to who's second, third or fourth, the Dallas versus Colorado match is very important for us and for them. So we just have to wait and see. It could really come down to the San Jose match to see who's second, third and fourth."
On finishing chances heading into the playoffs:
"Obviously, if Landon (Donovan) is in there, he finishes most of those opportunities; he has that kind of experience. Joe (Ngwenya), Alan (Gordon), Pando (Ramirez) -– they're getting experience and confidence as they go. I think Herculez (Gomez) in the end, should have finished a couple more opportunities. But, I think these are the guys, in the flow of the game, would have finished those. As crazy as it sounds, maybe it was just too easy. But, it's unacceptable -– we need to train more on our finishing and training under pressure. Give these guys lots and lots opportunities in front of the net because in the playoffs you're not going to get that many opportunities. You get three or four decent opportunities in the playoffs; you have to finish them. One of the things we will be focusing on is the lesson learned tonight. We got out of Dodge with three points tonight. We should have done a better job at finishing Dallas off."
On Gomez's scoring streak:
"That's difficult to say. A consistent run, scoring game after game is rare. Guys like Carlos Ruiz, Eric Wynalda, Tab Ramos. He is now starting to make a name for himself. He's playing with an enormous amount of confidence. You can see that in his second goal. It takes a lot of confidence and skill quite frankly. If it's not Goal of the Week, I don't know what will be."
On Gomez's capacity to make the U.S. national team:
"I think he caught coach Arena's eye. Anyone who's scoring the way he's scoring should catch the coach's eye. I know Bruce. He's got his group of players. I think maybe the time to bring him in is during the winter camps. I think it will be well-deserved."
On whether Gomez makes enough money:
"Certainly not from his perspective."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY MIDFIELDER NED GRABAVOY
On the emotional win versus Dallas:
"Obviously, we knew they were coming here for two games. Wednesday was a huge game for the club and the organization. We wanted to come out tonight and show that it wasn't a fluke, especially on our home field after what happened to us on their field. I think we really tried to match our intensity (from Wednesday night) and go a step beyond that."
On heading into the playoffs:
"We have a bit of confidence right now. If you look at our lineup, Landon wasn't in it. I think we still created a lot of chances. We have to put those chances away because against another team, it could hurt us. So in a game like that, we have to put them away."
On assisting on the first goal:
"I saw Herc(ulez) kind of check to it when he was about 30 yards away. Right before I was about to play it to him on the ground, I saw him turn so I just tried to lift it over the back and put Herc in behind and let him use his speed, because that is what he does best. And then he could put it away."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD HERCULEZ GOMEZ
Tonight's match compared to Wednesday's match:
"It was a war. The team that made the fewest mistakes was going to win. We committed fewer mistakes in the back. It could have been like last time a 4-0, or 5-0 game. I guess I did better in that aspect, finishing things off. That's soccer. Sometimes the ball goes into the net and sometimes it doesn't. But we are always going to put ourselves into that position, or at least try."
On the physical match with Greg Vanney:
"I thought he took a little bit of a shot at me when the referee wasn't looking and I shouldn't have retaliated. That's my fault. That's soccer. Emotions fly; that's the sport. That's why the crowd is so passionate. That's what it's all about."
On the importance of Saturday's win:
"Super-important; we know we have a bye next week. We have all week to rest so there's no reason any one us could step on the field and not give 100 percent."
FC DALLAS HEAD COACH COLIN CLARKE
On the game:
"We definitely deserved to get something from the game. We played well enough, even with 10 men, to get something from the game. But our own errors cost us two goals in the first half."
FC DALLAS DEFENDER GREG VANNEY
On the tension the last couple of games:
"That is the way it is. That is the way championship games are played and that is the way playoff games are played. There's a lot on the line. You wish you would see more of that in the league during the course of the year, but you know there is just not that much on the line game to game in the MLS, unfortunately. But, you want to see passion from both teams and that is when you get to see good soccer and the fans feel the passion that is being played on the field and that is what makes the game exciting. I definitely think you'll see a lot more of it between now and the end of the season for us when we get guys healthy. We are getting crushed with suspensions at the moment but hopefully going into the playoffs we'll have a full team and that will bode well for us."
On the red card:
"I think that I bumped him a little bit as he came across me. I don't know if I hit him enough to knock him over. It's kind of that thing where you are the last defender and if he (the referee) makes a call, sometimes he is obligated to give a red card on it; once he makes the call, I was the last guy, once he blows the whistle and then there is a good chance he will give it to me. There is nothing I can do at this point."
