Head Coach Jim Curtin
Overall thoughts…
"Obviously a big night, a big rivalry type game with D.C. A lot on the line. And again, incredibly proud of my group. It seems that every time a little bit of noise starts up from the outside, our group responds. And different guys step up. Tonight, with Collin, with Creavalle, with Andrew Wooten putting in good performances for us. So, we’re a team in the true sense of the word, getting healthy at a good time. Overall, a very good performance from us. Obviously, the red card changes the game; we recognize that. Sometimes when you get opportunities in seasons, in particular on the road, you have to take advantage of them. Obviously the red card changes the game. Our intensity throughout I thought was very good. We’re at our best when we’re very organized defensively. We allowed them to come a little bit, turn them over, and created a lot of chances tonight. I think 26 shots on the road is something that was impressive from the group. Couldn’t be more proud of the players and they deserve all the credit.”
On line-up changes…
"We made three changes and you’re concerned because fitness wise, Collin, could he do it? Creavalle, could he do it? Wooten, how much would he have in his legs? But they played like men. Collin with a huge performance again here in D.C. He had the good one in the Open Cup, so we know how smart he is on the field and we just needed some stability back there. [Creavalle] comes in and breaks up a ton of plays and actually gives us some offense as well. And [Wooten] really held the ball up, which on a hot night, when your striker can hold the ball up and let us move our line up a little bit and let us breath against the good D.C. team, that part worked out well for us. All three of those guys stepped up, I thought all the subs that came in did a good job and again it’s great to get your hero back. [Picoult] getting a goal is big. And the total complete team performance. Again, this is the best team I’ve ever been around with the Philadelphia Union, by far, but we still have nine games left. We talked about having 900 minutes remaining in our regular season and the playoffs had to start tonight and we got a heck of a response from our group.”
On Warren Creavalle…
"He’s our best ball winner that we have on our team. Maybe [Monteiro] you could make an argument for, but [Creavalle] is purely defensively, change of direction, winning balls, breaking up plays. He’s the destroyer. We don’t have a ton of them in our group but that’s what he does best. And for him to not only do that tonight but also connect a ton of forward passes was something that was special. So again, these guys have big hearts. They stepped up in a big spot, in a hard atmosphere to come and play, you know, a packed house at Audi Field against a really good team. Ben [Olsen] has done a great job with his group, they’re very tough to break down. And again, the red card obviously changed a lot tonight but at the same time, it was a good performance for us.”
On Philadelphia’s five-game win streak against D.C. United…
"Those things can go either way. You know, the margins are so tight in this league, the margins are so tight when we get together against D.C. Tonight’s a bit of an outlier in that regard but it’s usually one goal games and really tight games and decided by a restart or a set play. We came out on the right end tonight, but we recognize that we see them again in a few weeks and they’re gonna be highly motivated to pay us back.
Midfielder Alejandro Bedoya
On his goal…
"Aw man, that felt good. That felt good. In training, I always joke around about how the strikers get so lucky because their shots always end up going through like defenders’ legs and mine always get blocked. But tonight, I finally had one situation where I think it went through players’ legs and went in there and hit off the post and went in. So, that was good. Finally, we got an early goal in a game and didn’t concede and we won. So, I’m happy about the team’s effort. We were resilient. And like I said, we haven’t had consecutive losses this season. So, I think that shows a lot of character. We’re still on top of the East and hoping to keep going.”
On getting more shots…
"I shot a couple of times today, I think, three shots or something. That’s part of my game that maybe I have to do a little bit more of instead of always the pass. Pass first, that’s always my first instinct. But I’m happy to get on the score sheet, I’m happy most importantly that we got three points. It was a huge three points, it was a huge game for us. So, you know, I hope we can keep it going and have this game be momentum to finish the season on a strong note.”
On the pressure from Atlanta United…
"Yeah, Atlanta, you know, the talent’s always there. So, I knew they would always turn it around, even if they had some complications or whatnot. Regular season is coming to an end and there’s a lot of teams right there in the East. It’s tight in the East. So, this was a huge game. And D.C. was three games behind us, so this was a big game. We have a home game next game and we have to protect home field advantage. So yeah, hopefully we can keep it going.”
Midfielder Marco Fabian
On the early goal…
"It’s really important. We talked about this during the last week. We know it’s a good game because they are behind us. So, the first goal really early, that came in a good moment. And then we’re talking about the team. We tried to work together and run every play and try to keep the ball so I’m proud for this team today.”
On his first goal…
"Yeah, sometimes you know when you hit the ball or you shoot, you know. I just tried to be sure and to shoot hard.”
