CHICAGO FIRE 3, KANSAS CITY WIZARDS 0
CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH DAVE SARACHAN
On the Fire's effort tonight:
"Right from the opening whistle it was pretty clear that these guys had a concentrated effort both with the ball and without the ball and [we] made it real hard on Kansas City. In games like this where it's going to be tight and you've got to get that first goal, which we did, that really was important because it made [Kansas City] have to play."
On the improvement over previous games:
"I thought all three of our goals were terrific goals. Those were the kinds of things you talk about -- balls are moving, near-post runs, back-post runs, early balls slipped across. That was a lot more like it. You saw a team tonight that realized the urgency of where we are in the season and it was a real reflection of what our better soccer can look like."
On forward Chad Barrett's performance:
"You've got to make the best of your opportunities, and Chad has gradually been better and better in training and lately in the games, and tonight I thought he had a good performance. The goal was a good one, but just his active movement, chasing defensively, holding first balls; I thought he was very solid. It certainly makes a good case for him."
On playing Nate Jaqua on the right wing:
"We really haven't had a true right-sided midfielder, quite frankly, and since I've been here we've used Nate in that capacity. We thought that both Chad [Barrett] and Chris Rolfe had a good understanding with one another and we wanted to keep Nate on the field. We felt that would be a good weapon for us tonight and we think he did very well."
CHICAGO FIRE MIDFIELDER JUSTIN MAPP
Overall thoughts on the match:
"We had a couple guys out. It's been a tough stretch for us but we all came out and fought hard and that's all we could ask for. We got three points. They gave me free rein tonight and told me to be active and try to find my spots and mix it up a little bit."
On his offensive output tonight (goal and two assists):
"I'll take anything right now. I think it helped the team and we got the win. It's definitely [my biggest offensive night] as far as I can remember. It feels good that I was able to produce tonight. Hopefully I can keep it up."
On the difference between tonight and other nights:
"We always try and do the same things, we just got on the end of crosses tonight. We just try the same stuff and stay with it and it worked out tonight."
On his goal:
"Andy Herron crossed one across the box. It was tough to get to but I slid and I was lucky enough to get on the end of it and nobody was there."
CHICAGO FIRE FORWARD CHAD BARRETT
On tonight's match:
"As a team, it was really refreshing to see us play like that. Tactically, everything was sound and everybody was playing well. Justin [Mapp] had a great game today; everyone was making it so easy to press up top, lay back, go. Everything was just sound tonight."
On his goal:
"As a forward, you'll take what you can get. Those back-post runs; you tell someone to go near [post], someone to go far [post]. Andy [Herron] was already there, and I was far post and 'Sippi [Justin Mapp] did a great job again to beat his guy. I don't know if [Mapp] saw me at the back post or if he was playing a blind pass, and all of a sudden it was there. It was a great ball and it was inside the post, a yard out, and I knew I wasn't offside. Easy finish. A forward's dream."
On the changes in the lineup:
"When you play one position for so long and coach asks you to do something else ... Nate [Jaqua] and Justin [Mapp] played right midfield. [Nate] has played there before, but not for a while. He had a great game tonight."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS INTERIM HEAD COACH BRIAN BLISS
On the game:
"It was very similar to our Open Cup game on Monday. I don't think we got off to a good start right from the get-go. We committed a lot of fouls and gave [the Fire] a couple corner kicks too many. I think we were a tad slow getting to loose balls and a tad slow in getting our guys to put pressure on [the Fire]. We were under a lot of pressure from the start. I think [the Fire's] best opportunities came from our blatant giveaways that led to chances."
On playing a man down:
"When you're a man down, if the opponent is good enough they'll knock the ball around and expose your weak side. If the opponent leaves someone open, it's going to be on the weak side. At the end of the day, we weren't able to cover it up at the back post in time and consequently they scored two goals on us, both on the weak side back post. That's just a part of being a man down."
On the Wizards' five games in 11 days:
"It's just a tough schedule. We knew it was going to be tough from the get-go, playing five games in 11 days and we've still got three or four days to go on this and another road game. You know what the travel does to people, and when you're on the road for seven straight days, it takes its toll on us. We're going to have to try to conserve our energy over the next couple of days and make the most out of our free time and recuperation. Hopefully we'll be ready and have enough energy to compete against a good Chivas USA team."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS MIDFIELDER SASHA VICTORINE
On what the Wizards have to do to stay in the MLS Cup Playoff chase:
"One, we've got to make sure we don't give up goals. That's the thing that's been getting us all year, and last year, the set-piece goals. We've just got to be more solid as a team on the marking and also try to not give up any set pieces and corners like we've been doing.
"Offensively, it's holding possession of the ball, making the other team work a little bit and tire them out so offensively they don't have that same juice to go forward and hopefully allow our team to get forward more with our forwards more and combine better up top."
On the Wizards' mind frame coming out of halftime:
"I don't think there was any question in our minds that had a chance to come back. Even when we went down a man I think we knew we were still in the game. It just takes one mistake from them or one good play by us to get a goal and you're right back in it. The thing that was tough was when we did give up that second goal and then the third, you know that being a man down it's going to be that much harder to come back and score, and I think that weighs mentally on the guys."
On the Wizards' inability to build momentum:
"As a team it's frustrating because we want to build on last weekend's game. On the road here, against a team in our division, yeah, it's frustrating."
