COLROADO RAPIDS 1, LOS ANGELES GALAXY 0
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH FERNANDO CLAVIJO
On outcome and pace of game:
"I feel exhausted to be honest with you, to tell you the truth I was waiting for a penalty against us or something at the end there. Again, we just demonstrated that we come out to play, but then everything starts happening against us we had to pick it up. The red card to Pablo [Mastroeni] got us up and running again. But the other one to [Guy] Melamed, he slipped, no intent what so ever and they're going to see it when they watch the tapes, but it's too late now. Every game is like the boys are excited and they work their hearts out. It was a defensive drill for the last 40 minutes, we worked it well and you have to give credit to every single one of them, we had to really dig in, it's a professional game and we did what we're supposed to do and I'm very proud of them."
On playing through adversity:
"I'm very proud, the emotions I'm going through right now, we don't need to fight that hard, a lot of stuff happened on the field that was unjustified. It's sad that my players had put up with so much to come out with three points."
On being undermanned:
"We started taking names down, we might have to contact Uruguay or some place else to get players to fill in, I don't know. It's one of the things, we put in Gargan and he stepped up very well for us. That is the good thing about the reserve games, that's where the reserve games come in very handy, the games that they play; we need them for some of the younger kids now to develop, they will be given a responsibility to step in and do the job. I'm very proud, we asked [Jean-Philippe] Peguero to play at right midfielder which he never played in his life. They played extremely hard for 93 minutes and that's exactly what we talked about ... pure concentration and mental attitude for 90-plus minutes and that's what we did."
On Cannon's performance:
"Outstanding, outstanding, I said all along that I hope we can get things in order so we don't have to depend so much on him, but he came out like he is one of the best in the league."
COLORADO RAPIDS GOALKEEPER JOE CANNON
On the Galaxy's late flurry:
"It was just a scramble you know, I think that some nights those go in and some nights they don't. I remember Landon (Donovan) point blank and I just put out my toe and that's it, everyone always asks me about my big feet and that's a prime example of making a save with them right there. I'm just very happy to get a result, I think this team needs it, we're tied with Salt Lake and that's the most important thing in the overall picture, we're tied for a playoff spot. We've got some tough teams ahead, but it's good to beat one of the top teams in the conference."
On the rivalry with the Galaxy:
"Well you can't really blame the refs out in L.A. for this officiating here, and you don't want to place everything on the refs, but it does seem like every time we play them (Galaxy) the rivalry gets better and I do feel like tonight the red cards and the penalty kick added to it. I'm just glad we got the three points."
COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER MIKE PETKE
On the red cards:
"It's a good thing it was an exciting game and turned out good, because it could've been the worst game ever. I feel for Guy (Melamed), the guy slipped, he slipped and hit the guy."
On the ending flurry:
"It's not a panic especially when you're two guys down, you're just thinking clear it, even if you think there might be a gut open, just clear it and get it out, and we did that very well. Alain Nkong was brilliant from what he is usually used for, which is offense. He played unbelievable defense tonight, everybody played great."
On a possible turning point:
"This is huge, it's the type of game and situation that you build on and if you take nothing else from it, it's that we came together tonight and got three points and hopefully we can go into Chivas and get another three points, but this was a huge three points for us tonight. I just told the guys that we can't say we got screwed by the refs, it's a cliché and we have to step up, we're paid to do this."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY HEAD COACH STEVE SAMPSON
On the result:
"You have to give Colorado a lot of credit for defending well and doing what they had to do. We should have played better and found ways to put the ball in the back of the net."
On Saturday's match against FC Dallas:
"It's most important to put this game behind us. If we get a good result in Dallas, we'll be in good shape; we'll be on top of the table and that's what we came here for ... we have to focus on what is ahead of us and put this game in our rear view mirror."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY DEFENDER TYRONE MARSHALL
On the result:
"It was one of those nights when the ball was bouncing their way. Whether a ball went off the post like on Cobi's shot or someone got a foot to a cross, we could not get a break all night."
On Saturday's match against FC Dallas:
"We need to learn from this and move forward. It was a hard one to take but we move on to Dallas Saturday knowing that if we get that win, we are in first place."
