LOS ANGELES GALAXY 3, CHIVAS USA 1
LOS ANGELES GALAXY HEAD COACH STEVE SAMPSON
On the game:
"I though it was a game of two distinct halves. Obviously in the first half, we played very well, played very intelligently and got some great goals from guys with the exception of Jovan that don't normally score. Cobi Jones has scored two goals in two games, but didn't score all last year. So, we're obviously very happy with that. Great goal by Pete Vagenas, he had a great opportunity two weeks ago but he put it in the back of the net tonight. A great free kick by Jovan.
"I think defensively we shut them down in the midfield and held our backline pretty effectively, but in the second half I thought we did a poor job holding up the result. Having said that we're still very happy with the result, very happy with the three points.
"Our boys are disappointed quite frankly. Disappointed with the way we played in the second half, and we felt that we should have done a much better job than this. The first game of our classic and we're glad that our general manager and president doesn't have to change his hair color, very happy about that and very happy to receive the case of Budweiser."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY MIDFIELDER PETER VAGENAS
On the game and atmosphere:
"It was fun, obviously, whenever you win. I don't think we necessarily played as well as we'd have liked, but we'll take the win and continue to build on that. The atmosphere was like nothing I've seen here. Overall, it was pretty good."
On his goal:
"It was a bit lucky, whenever I score, it's icing on the cake."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD JOVAN KIROVSKI
On the game:
"We just had a good start, we scored early. Going into halftime being up 3-0 was big for us. In the second half, I was disappointed. I think we sort of let down a little bit when we should have really pushed on and gone forward. We let them get into it a little bit, but overall it's good to get three points and good to get a win."
On the atmosphere:
"The atmosphere was great. I felt the buzz coming into warmup that I've never seen before. It felt really good having 27,000 there. It was really great."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN
On the first edition of the Honda Super Clásico:
"They need to get better first before we really call it a clásico. Granted, they're an expansion team, they've only had four games together. They'll get better and I'm sure the next time we play them it will be a better game."
On the physicality of the game:
"We kind of figured they were going to come out and try to be that way, because that was really the only chance to stop us. I've played enough games where you know not to get involved, not to retaliate, just go about your business and let the ref do his job, which he did."
On the second-half play:
"I was really disappointed because if we're going to be a good team and we want to win a championship, we have to be better. If we didn't have a man up, it could've been a different game. If they get the second goal and it's 3-2 and they end up tying the game, we would be gutted. We have to better about that and not let that happen."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER DOUG HAMILTON
On the atmosphere of the inaugural Honda Super Clasico:
"We're definitely happy with the way the fans responded, and we certainly feel that we created an environment that raises the bar for all of MLS and Chivas for the return match on May 28th. Our fans are very passionate and got behind the team in a very loud and boisterous way, and I think set the tone for what our team can expect in upcoming matches. The atmosphere was as good as any regular season game I've been around and even surpassed when we opened up this stadium, even with the likes of dignitaries like Pele and all the other dignitaries that made the trip down. I think that tonight's atmosphere was absolutely brilliant. I applaud our fans for creating such an environment for our players to perform in."
CHIVAS USA HEAD COACH THOMAS RONGEN
On the result:
"We're extremely disappointed in the result and the way we played, especially in the first half, digging ourselves in a huge hole with some goals we could have prevented: a rebound, on a corner kick; Peter Vagenas coming from a deep position, scoring that second goal; and then that dead-ball situation with Kirovski."
On the second half:
"I thought the second half we showed some grit and some pride, that you expect teams to have in a clásico like this, with 10 men fighting back. But when you give yourself such a large deficit against a good team - which L.A. is - it's very hard to come back. You have to congratulate the Galaxy for performing very well. They were, on the day, the better team. That's it. End of story. It's very simple."
CHIVAS USA FORWARD ISAAC ROMO
On the game:
"The result is very disappointing to us. We came to play tonight expecting a different outcome, but various circumstances went the other direction. Like the red card that we got, that prevented our team from making a comeback in the second half. And towards the end, we were tired, because it's very difficult to play with man down."
CHIVAS USA GOALKEEPER BRAD GUZAN
On his season so far:
"It's been a learning process. I try not to look at it like that. This is a great opportunity, and I think once it come together, we will start gelling together and will turn things around."
