FC DALLAS 2, REAL SALT LAKE 1
FC DALLAS HEAD COACH STEVE MORROW
On the lineup changes and formation:
"I thought it worked well in the first half. It's a long season, we all know that. We've had a tough stretch; you know, we've played more games than any other team in the league. It's been another three games in a week and two games in four days and I wanted to be able to freshen things up; give it that bit of life and that bit of energy by making a few changes and getting some fresh legs out there.
"And again, we're a very deep team, very deep roster and we're going to need everyone throughout the season. I think it's important that, as much as possible, to try and keep everyone fit and sharp. I looked at Salt Lake and what they had to offer and playing Carlos (Ruiz) up top and Dominic (Oduro) on one side of him and Arturo (Alvarez) on the other side, I thought it worked very, very well in the first half and we were able to create a lot of chances."
On the play of Dominic Oduro and Carlos Ruiz:
"I wanted him (Oduro) to play on the channel down the right side and be able to make runs in behind and beyond Carlos as well. I though Carlos was superb in the first half as well. He held the ball up very well for us, and created a lot of gaps for Dominic to run in behind, which worked very well. I was pleased with the front three."
On the quality of the goals:
"The goals were great. I can't remember scoring such great goals in one game. I thought Arturo's strike was tremendous, and even the bit of skill leading up to that was great as well. And that's what he's capable of, he's got great ability, and I want him to show it more. I've just watched the second goal again - and it was an unbelievable strike. It really was. Right inside the post in the top corner. Chris hasn't come back to the locker room yet."
On winning late despite having so much possession:
"I spoke to the guys at halftime to keep doing the same things that we were doing in the first half. I think it took us a while to get going in the second half. I think that was the period were we really felt it (three games in a week), in terms of trying to get our legs going. I little bit of tiredness crept in in the second half. And that's why I wanted to have some strength on the bench as well. I knew we were going to need it. A lot of credit to the boys because I thought we finished the game strong. We bounced back after the goal, kept pushing. Salt Lake deserved a bit of credit also, because they threw everything at us. They attacked us hard and for the most part we defended well. I think it was a great team effort today."
On not having registered a shutout this season:
"It's disappointing not to get a shutout but we're pushing hard for it."
On the club's recent form:
"Good. It's been a tough stretch, going away to Kansas City and Chicago, which were both tough games. Full credit to the boys because three wins out of three is a tremendous average. Three games in a week is a tough stretch. We needed the whole roster. Credit to everyone involved."
On the team's defensive play:
"I think we have looked solid defensively, especially in the last two games. If you win two straight on the road, there can't be too much wrong defensively. I think we put ourselves under pressure on set plays. We conceded a lot of corners against Chicago and a lot more today."
On Carlos Ruiz's yellow card:
"I was disappointed with it but I would like to look at the tape before I comment on it further. It looked like a harsh yellow card. Unfortunately, he's going to miss our next game."
FC DALLAS DEFENDER CHRIS GBANDI
On his game-winning goal:
"Yeah, I got a ball from Pablo (Ricchetti), thought about crossing it for a little bit there and then thought in my head you know I never really shoot so let me just try it, and I just hit it. To be honest with you, I didn't really know where it was going and obviously luckily it hit the back of the net."
On the importance of the goal:
"To be honest with you, that's pretty much why I'm excited about the goal in itself. I'm sure if Carlos had scored or if Ramon (Nunez) had scored we'd all be excited; it just happed to be me. But, to get a win after playing three games in eight days against a team like that in our home; we haven't won here in a while, so I think that's what I'm most excited about. The goal obviously helps, the excitement and all of that but just getting three straight wins now; I think obviously if we had tied that game that would have looked really bad and our confidence would have been down. Overall, I think in getting that win, our confidence is up and we're looking forward to going to Chivas and trying to get another one."
On the play of the back line:
"I thought we did all all right. Obviously this whole shutout thing; we try not to talk about it but it's still not helping so we might as well just talk about it now. But we need a good one. It was a good defensive performance and obviously giving up a sloppy penalty like that doesn't help us. I think the guys in the back are gelling and we're starting to play well together and hopefully if we stay healthy we can continue to do a good job."
On his celebration (waving his hand in front of his face):
"The celebration is - I'll tell people when I score five goals, I'll explain."
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On the game:
"I don't know that settled in is the word that I was looking for. For the whole first half, for some reason we struggled to get moving, to get anything going. I don't think we strung together more than two passes at any time in the first half. Going forward, we will try to figure out why that was. It looked to me that the guys were either tired or just weren't up for it. Both are unacceptable for different reasons. If they were tired, then we need to figure out a way to train them so that they're not tired for the match. If they just weren't up for it, then we have to figure out ways or to find people or who are up for it."
On the result:
"At that time, in the second half, I figured that for sure that we were going to get out of here with a point. Maybe there will be something happen for us that we'll get to snatch three points. The fact is that they had two very special individual goals. On the first goal, Arturo (Alvarez) had a fantastic dribble to beat Jack Stewart and struck an unbelievable ball to the far post. That was an unbelievable goal, so hats off to him. Maybe we can look at this game apart from those two goals and see that we weren't that bad defensively. But offensively, we have to get better."
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER CHRIS KLEIN
On the game:
"We're in the business of getting results and we didn't get a result tonight. I thought that for whatever reason, we came out and let them dictate the game. In the second half, we turned that around all the way up until (Chris) Gbandi scored that goal. It's disappointing but at this point, we have to keep plugging away, fighting and trying to get better."
On being winless:
"We're really frustrated now. We feel that we have the necessary tools to do very well. We've been in every game. We haven't gotten the results or gotten over that hump yet, but I truly feel that we're going to get over that hump. Hopefully, we can do that on Wednesday in the Open Cup and follow that up against Chicago."
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER MEHDI BALLOUCHY
On the game:
"We came into the game and didn't stick to our game plan. We just got on and forgot what we were supposed to do. We didn't necessarily forget but we didn't do what coach asked us to do as far as shape and everything in the first half."
On the team's effort in the second half:
"I think we got together at halftime and said that if we were going to lose, let's lose as a competitive team. If we end up losing, then fine. At least we left it out there. The worst feeling out there is when you lose without trying as hard as you could. I didn't think we went out 100 percent in the first half."
