NEW YORK RED BULLS 2, COLUMBUS CREW 0
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH JUAN CARLOS OSORIO
On his first game as Red Bulls head coach:
"I think you saw the first 25 minutes, (we were) playing very well and playing good football from the back. We got two goals that were well deserved. We played very, very hard and worked hard on set plays and got our reward. The first goal was a very good buildup and I think after that, they got a little bit of a joy. We started losing the ball in the middle of the pitch. I think in general, it was a well deserved three points, a good performance, and a great result for us."
On whether he was happier with the shutout or the two quick goals:
"I am happier to get the shutout. Obviously, I am very pleased and happy to have won our first game but most importantly to have our first clean sheet, and we can build on that."
On Jeff Parke's red card and Kevin Goldthwaite:
"I think you have to be disappointed with the red card. I will not deny that and if I am extremely honest, I told him with his experience that's unacceptable. However, I think in my opinion we had the best player in the game today in Kevin Goldthwaite."
On replacing Jeff Parke for the next match:
"That's an early question, but we have already spoken to the guys about having 'Plan B,' especially when we play away from home and we have a way to replace Jeff. Obviously, we'll miss his athleticism but in football, you just have to accept that this is what this whole game is about. We are going to address the absence of not having him."
On what impressed him the most about Goldthwaite:
"Goldthwaite showed that in the air, he's very competitive and very good, and his distribution in the back was very good. And if I recall right, he only gave one ball away in the first half. He's very competitive and very good in one-on-one situations."
On Jozy Altidore's availability tonight:
"He got injured at Thursday's session, and he didn't feel 100 percent, and I thought it was the best thing to do with him to not risk it. It worked out for us and it paid off."
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER DAVE VAN DEN BERGH
On his goal in the first minute:
"I don't remember (scoring so early). Not this early in the season, no, that's for sure. I didn't have a clear option to pass to anybody. Juan Pablo (Angel) made a good run to make some space but I saw the left back pinching in. So, I really couldn't go that way and I was like 'Nobody's coming I might as well take a shot.'"
On the team's early goals:
"Well, it gives us a boost especially in the first home game in front of our own fans. We wanted to come out strong and show everybody that we were the last team to start but definitely not the last team that was deserving of a win."
On the overall defense:
"All in all, I didn't think we gave them too many clear chances. They had some bounces that fell their way but I think we did a pretty solid job in the back."
NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER KEVIN GOLDTHWAITE
On adjusting to head coach Juan Carlos Osorio's defensive style:
"I guess coming out of college, I was always a left-sided defender in the flat four. But, I think learning this system has actually turned out to be beneficial to me and my game because I am good in the air and like you said, I am good at distribution."
On the difference between this year and last:
"I really try to put last year behind me. It wasn't something that was great for me. I came down here with high expectations to do well with a New York club. ... That's in the past. I've just come here and started fresh and got a good game under my belt."
On his goal in the eighth minute:
"It was right place, right time. I'll take that goal any day of the week. It definitely wasn't a clinical finish but just right place, right time. It was a set piece we worked on earlier in the week for a far post ball off a corner kick and Juan Pablo heads it back across and hopefully, someone is crashing the goal."
NEW YORK RED BULLS FORWARD JUAN PABLO ANGEL
On the team's fast start:
"It was great to start off like we did. To get an early goal and then the second one like we did, I think that basically settled the game down. I think it was a much more comfortable game for us in general."
On the second half defense:
"Second half, you would expect them to come a little bit stronger. It was great to not just to win the game but also to keep a clean sheet. I think it's been a while since we've done that and I think it was a solid performance in general."
On the play of Dave van den Bergh:
"It was great just to see him score and put on a solid performance like he did today. He's a big player for us and in general as we progress, I think the team is going to get a little more solid. We're going to get a little more confidence."
COLUMBUS CREW HEAD COACH SIGI SCHMID
On the team's overall performance:
"I just thought we didn't play well in the early part of the game. Part of it is the field, because it is a very matted-down turf, it's not a stand up turf, so it plays very quick. They watered it beforehand so it was very slick. We told our guys not to play balls into feet of midfielders with their back to goals, which they did. We had three opportunities to clear the ball and we didn't use any of them, so now we find ourselves behind. It's a ball that our goalkeeper should save. He made some saves later, but after that we're chasing after the game."
On the field contributing to the first goal:
"It contributed because we didn't give ourselves a chance to get used to the field before we started to play balls we shouldn't have been trying to play. That's our fault and we just didn't manage the game well in the first 10-15 minutes. If we manage the game well there, I think we're OK today."
On what resulted in the loss:
"They didn't do anything that we didn't expect. They played exactly the way we expected them to play. Look at their chances in the first half and the goals. The first goal, we had chances to clear it and we didn't clear it. The second goal, (Kevin) Goldthwaite gets away with a push, (Chad) Marshall goes down, and they get a goal. Their third good chance of the half was a ball that we played to Angel. We made the through ball, no one else did. From that standpoint, we knew they were going to spread the field. They were going to play long balls and isolate Angel and Echeverry. The problem was when we had the ball we didn't put them on their heels. That allowed them to keep the pressure on us. You have to credit them because they did keep the pressure and they were there to pounce on us when we made mistakes."
COLUMBUS CREW FORWARD ALEJANDRO MORENO
On the start of the game:
"Obviously, this was not the start that we wanted. When you allow two goals in the first eight minutes, it makes it very difficult. At times, when we put the ball down and tried to play we were decent. We created some opportunities, but chasing the game after the eighth minute makes it very difficult."
On the team's improvement later in the game:
"Towards the end of the first half, when we started to shake off the first eight minutes and then really started to play. In the last 15 minutes of the first half, we were pretty decent. In the second half, we were trying to push the game, force the issue, and create chances, and see if we could get a goal and make a game out of it, but we couldn't do that. We come out of here without anything, when we thought this was a game we could get something out of."
COLUMBUS CREW DEFENDER FRANKIE HEJDUK
On the team's outlook after the loss:
"We win as a team and we lose as a team and obviously tonight, we lost as team. It's a team, it's nobody's fault, we can't look too much into it. We think of it for the next couple hours and then we work for next week on Monday."
