HOUSTON DYNAMO 0, TORONTO FC 0
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the game:
"The streak is great, but for me, you want to win games. I think tonight we created some chances to score. If you don't score you're keeping them in the game. But if you score they kind of have to open up a little bit. It makes it a little easier. Our lack of finishing tonight cost us some points. Their keeper made some great saves, and we hit some posts. I think if we finish on one of those chances we're probably a little bit happier."
On recent games:
"I told the guys in the last 10 games we're eight wins and two draws. We're disappointed because the guys are hungry for more wins, and they feel we should've won. I'm proud of these guys. It's been a tough two weeks with games Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday. You can tell there were some tired legs out there. A much-needed rest is coming for these guys this week. We'll be back at it. I'm disappointed we didn't win this game, but you're looking at a happy coach with a team that's on top of the league. If we were a little more clinical in front of goal, I think we're having a different meeting tonight."
HOUSTON DYNAMO GOALKEEPER PAT ONSTAD
On the game:
"We're at home. We want to win, we don't want to tie -- especially against 10 men for 55 minutes. I think that's the disappointing part. Had they had 11 men it's a close battle, and I think you live with it. The fact that we were against 10 men and we couldn't get more than one point out of it was disappointing."
On creating opportunities:
"We played New York with 10 men for about the same amount of time, and we didn't create too many chances. Tonight we created opportunities. Unfortunately they didn't go in for us. On another night maybe we get two or three."
On breaking the MLS shutout record:
"It's a team record. I've always thought goals against is a team statistic. It starts with our front two guys. If they put pressure on the ball it makes the other team's job more difficult. I think the guys follow suit when those guys are working hard."
HOUSTON DYNAMO DEFENDER EDDIE ROBINSON
On breaking the MLS shutout record:
"We're proud of that accomplishment. We're a hungry team, and we wanted to win tonight. We're quite disappointed about that. Look at the locker room. No music going. Not to downplay the fact we've had nine games with no goals against, but we certainly feel like we should've come out with three points tonight."
On playing well, but failing to find a finishing touch:
"It almost takes you back to the beginning of the season -- our game against Toronto FC in Toronto, our game against Chicago here, our game against New England here. Those were three games we absolutely dominated, but we didn't finish our chances. It's a similar situation here tonight. We got some chances. The field was maybe a bit wet. That might've thrown us off a little. I think this is somebody's way of telling us things can't go our way all the time. You're not going to win every single game even though you'd like to, but that's some record we set tonight."
TORONTO FC HEAD COACH MO JOHNSTON
On his team's play:
"Offensively, we could have brought one last 20 minutes. Again, our tactic with [Andrea] Lombardo was to have him go in there and work his butt off for, I think it was 33 minutes. It was important that we kept our shape in the back and look to play in the corners and move the ball up, and it worked very well to take four points off of the champions."
On goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic:
"Our goalkeeper did very well tonight. He stood on his hands tonight, and we're very, very pleased with him. He's come a long way since joining the team three or four months ago."
On his team's depth:
"We have a good group of guys together. We have guys who can come off of the bench and help, and that's important when you're playing three or four games on the road. We've been on the road now for five games, and we've only lost once, so we're coming along."
On the pressure on his team to win:
"There's no pressure on this group. They know what's ahead of them -- it's the playoffs, and we need to start making a push. We've got a bunch of games coming at home, we've been on the road for a long time now. Hopefully we can get back into the home stadium and get some points. These guys have done a hell of a job."
On Houston:
"It's not just the humidity, it's the way they play. They've got a hell of a team, they break people down, they get the ball right, they've got Ngwenya, Robinson, Waibel, Ching, there's so much talent. They're very well stacked; that's why they won the championship last year."
On the second half:
"They could have scored a couple in the second half, if it wasn't for Djekanovic. Dominic will look at that, there's obviously a few points lost. We played with 10 men for so long time against a great team."
On midfielder Maurice Edu's red card:
"I don't think he deserved it. I think the referee was showing him a yellow card, and I think he made the wrong decision. I don't mind paying the penalty for saying that. Edu's not a dirty player. He went for the ball, he looked up and [Brian] Mullan got a bloody nose. That's all he had. I'm sorry to see that, but Maurice is not a dirty player and he wasn't intentionally going for him."
On Houston's defense:
"I applaud every one of their guys. I thought they played very, very well and hard, even though at the end they were all tired. So I applaud them."
TORONTO FC DEFENDER JIM BRENNAN
On his team's effort:
"We worked hard as a team, and we made it tough for them. You guys could tell they got frustrated and were trying to play long balls in the back, but we kept our shape, kept our lineup high, and we didn't give them any chances, and we're delighted to be coming away from here with a point."
On playing in Houston:
"I thought we were doing all right. It's always difficult when you're the away team and the home team's going to come at you for 10 or 15 minutes before it settled down a little bit. It changed our plans, and obviously we had to go with a new formation.
On the road trip:
"It's been a very tough road trip, but the main thing is that we keep going along and keep on picking up points. We had a tough week last week, and we came away with five points, which we were happy with. We thought we should have got a couple extra ones in Chicago, we should've beaten them. But today we played a team that's on top of the league, and they're up there for a reason. Formation-wise and the way they play, they're a good side. Coming away with a point, we're happy with that."
On the second half:
"Mo told us to go out there and get five goals. He just said to go out there and keep our shape and try to get something out of the game. We've got good character and we work hard for each other. In spite of the red card, we went out there and got the point we wanted."
