COLORADO RAPIDS 1, CHIVAS USA 0
CHIVAS USA HEAD COACH PREKI
On the result:
"It was one of those games. From the very beginning I had a funny feeling. I know we have a better team, I knew that our chances will come and in the first half we had two or three very good opportunities to open up the game. But, we give them credit, they fought, they did what they needed to do and they got two scrappy goals. At the end, we were pushing for a win, because a tie for us did not matter, but it wasn't meant to be."
CHIVAS USA GOALKEEPER BRAD GUZAN
On the game:
"We created chances but threw them away and in a game like that, the longer it goes 0-0, it favors the other team. Today we got lazy in the set pieces, we lose a guy eight yards away and he scores. It's good that it happens now and not in three weeks."
CHIVAS USA DEFENDER ORLANDO PÉREZ
On the game:
"It's a sad feeling, because we had a great opportunity of clinching the Western Conference with a victory. But we let go all those clear scoring opportunities and then, when we got the tying goal, we threw numbers forward and they took advantage of the open spaces."
On his goal:
"It was a very good pass by Sacha, a ball that got to my left foot at the right time and I just had to put it in."
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH FERNANDO CLAVIJO
On the team's performance:
"Playing shorthanded the whole half was definitely an emotional game for us. I think the effort was tremendous throughout the field for 90 minutes. This is what we've been playing for, we know the urgency of the points right now and there's no more time for us to get the three points. Right now we put a little pressure on everybody else. Nothing is decided right now. We need to go home and play against Real Salt Lake in a game that we feel we should win. I know they are going to try to screw things up for us, no question about it, it's a big rivalry against Real Salt Lake and we have to prepare for them."
On playing one man down:
"I think we are used to playing shorthanded. It's happened to us so many times throughout the year against Chivas. The team is used to playing with ten players the whole game."
On the team's success of playing with 10 players:
"First thing is composition, you can not lose patience and lose track of what is going on. You know the team is going to try to possess the ball in front of you. You have to have the right player to be able to break into the counterattack, somebody who can hold the ball in the corner. This is what happened today, I think it serves as motivation for players to know that they may need to take that extra step."
COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER UGO IHEMELU
On his goal:
"I tried to start offsides, so I could have a guy to really mark me. Then I ran back on, it was a difficult ball to adjust in the air. I tried not to get too much on it, if I would have hit it I would have hit it off frame. I tried not to get a piece of it, to keep the momentum going on goal. It went off my back, luckily Conor Casey was right there and the ball just ended back on my feet."
His emotions on the game:
"It was a must-win game. We are playing Chivas USA, a team who is on top of our conference and maybe the league. They have a lot of confidence and they have a lot of good players. We were down a player. To get a lead, lose it and then able to come back and win it with not a lot of time left there's just a bunch of emotions. To win it in the end, knowing we still have a chance is still a great feeling."
COLORADO RAPIDS GOALKEEPER BOUNA COUNDOUL
On his performance:
"This game was do or die. I had to be focused for the whole 90 minutes. Sometimes the ball bounces your way, but I was expecting this kind of stuff for this game."
On the save on Jonathan Bornstein's header:
"When smart players cross the ball they decide to hit it back where the ball came from, so the 'keeper will be caught on his feet not being able to move. I've been practicing this with my coach. As soon as I saw him going for the header, I knew the only way he could beat me was to put it back where it came from. When the ball came, I set my feet and dove for it."
