Head Coach Adrian Heath
On if he’s coming out of this game feeling like his squad deserves three points …
“Yes. I think it’d been a travesty had we not taken anything from this game. We were dominant in virtually every aspect of the game. Against a good team. Very expensive assembled team, with good players. You know, every time they go forward, you look at the pace they’ve got in their front areas. Tyler [Miller] made one big save. In the first half. Which kept us in the game. But after that, it doesn’t surprise me. We’ve dominated every stat because, we’re the better team this evening and nobody will convince me of anything else.”
On if he knows what happened on LAFC’s goal …
“No. It’s a mistake. First one to hold his hand up is Tyler [Miller] when he comes in. This happens. It’s the occupational hazard for a goalkeeper. When you make a mistake, invariably, it proves very, very costly. And, but hey, he’s saved us on numerous occasions this season. Most important thing is he put it behind him and we’ll move on.”
On if he’s content with the one point …
“No. Because I think we deserved three. The way we played deserved three points. But, I always say, I’ll never turn down a point down. Because, certainly I’m going to be thankful for that point in a couple of weeks time.”
On if Osvaldo Alonso’s goal reminds him of another goal Alonso has scored here at Allianz Field …
“Another magnificent performance from him this evening. Defies logic at times when you look at the distance he covers in high-speed running. I think he had his fastest run in the league last week, for somebody who has been at it for a long 8, 12, 15 years. We can’t speak highly enough of him at the minute. But, I can’t think of anybody who I didn’t think had a great game tonight. I really can’t. So, our back four was really good when we needed them to be. I ought the two midfielders covered an awful lot of ground. I thought Franco [Fragapne] was good. Adrien [Hunou] looked dangerous. I always talk to the players about a level of performance that’s expected and acceptable to everyone. Tonight was one of them nights. Had we lost game, yeah, I’d have been incredibly disappointed. But, trust me, with a performance, we play like that, more often than not, we’ll win the game.”
On Osvaldo Alonso’s first goal ever scored at Allianz Field in 2019 …
“Yeah. Very similar.”
On how dangerous the collision with the referee looked to him …
“Well, when there’s always a clash of heads and you see the blood coming out from either people, and there’s a couple of guys going through the concussion protocol, it’s never good. But, it looks like fortunately everybody is okay. I’m not quite sure about [Moonhwan Kim], because obviously he didn’t come out for the second half, but, fortunately everybody is okay and I hope he’s okay as well.”
On Emanuel Reynoso setting the tone early on in the game and how important it is in a game to get the tone set offensively …
“I just wanted to keep the momentum from the last couple of games. I wanted us to start well. And, we have started well. And, obviously, it was a sucker punch that goal, the way that it came about, because we were dominating the game. If anybody looked like scoring, it was us. I actually thought we should have had a foul before they got a foul for the free kick. But, you know, that’s another matter.”
On what the discussion was after the game with Osvaldo Alonso …
“Well, Ozzie [Alonso] is not happy with one of their members of staff. He put his hands on him. But, thankfully everything has sorted itself out and we’re okay.”
Midfielder Wil Trap
On tonight’s game…
“Look, I think it was probably one of our best performances of the year. It's hard to admit that when you tie and that's disappointing because we felt like we had plenty of opportunities to score. Obviously, the goal is the goal. I think Tyler [Miller] did an amazing job right after that making a huge save. That's not easy to do from a reaction perspective, the goalkeeper position can be pretty lonely. So for us, it was great to see him react, but for the rest of the group moving forward, it's those half chances that we need to turn into real on goal chances.”
On talking to Tyler Miller after letting in the goal…
“You just try to encourage and I think he got the message from all of us and it's always great when teammates dig each other out. I mean Ozzie [Alonso] scores a great goal and that's what the group is building towards and that's where our mentality is focused.”
On Osvaldo Alonso’s goal…
“When you need someone to stand up, it's great to have your captain do so and he did a great job tonight. Not just with the goal but his entire performance. No matter how they go as long as they go in. So like I said, as long as we can continue to get chances, clear cut chances, and have that final third quality I think we're going to score goals.”
On the collision with the referee…
“Concerning of course. I know Robert [Sibiga] well so that was one where you're obviously concerned for Ozzie [Alonso] for [Moonhwan] Kim from LAFC but also I think Robert took the brunt of it and the way he landed didn't look great but he got up and of course they do all the medical protocols to make sure that he's fit to referee the game but definitely a scary moment.”
On Osvaldo Alonso’s discussion with LAFC Head Coach Bob Bradley…
“I think this was a situation which our guys felt, we probably were owed a little bit more extra time. I think we got short-changed in the first half. But that’s really what [Ozzie Alonso’s] take was and I don’t think Bob [Bradley] really appreciated that so much.”
On maybe leaving points on the board in the game tonight…
“Once again we still control our destiny. Biggest thing is recovery and getting ready for Vancouver. The rest of the results, there’s only so much we can do. Not worrying about it, really just focusing on ourselves.”
On the game being frustrating or encouraging…
“It’s both. It’s both in the sense of it’s great to see the group clicking, but the ultimate test of a team clicking is scoring goals. So, in that regard we have a little bit more to keep building on and left the crowd wanting and left ourselves wanting. For us, it’s understanding that we did a lot of good things, build on it, but now let’s put some goals in and really cement not only a playoff spot, but hopefully a playoff game.”