Head coach Ben Olsen
On the team’s performance…
“It was an inconsistent performance from us tonight. We did enough to get two goals and we had a chance or two to get something out of the game. They played pretty well and we had our moments. Their attack down the right side caused us quite a bit of trouble and we didn’t solve the problem quick enough or often enough."
On the Union’s go-ahead goal after Mattocks’ equalizer…
"Obviously a poor response to tying the game up. Probably too passive but I’ll have to look at it."
On the no calls...
"It seemed like Steven [Birnbaum] gets hit pretty hard in the box that led to their second goal, which I thought could’ve gone our way. They reviewed it and didn't overturn it… earlier in the game he gets mauled in the box with a free look on goal for a clear penalty that he decides to wave away. So On a day that we weren’t at our best, we could have used one of those calls."
On Bruno Miranda’s role coming in as a 68th-minute substitute…
“I thought Bruno [Miranda] gave us a lot of energy. He had a good two weeks of training and he deserved some minutes. I thought he came in, got on the ball and made the right passes. We need to work on his fitness a little bit because he hasn’t played a lot of games but he’s a good young player.”
On concern he holds on the direction of this group…
“I’m not too alarmed by the situation we’re in right now. We just lost a game on the road in MLS… it doesn’t feel good and I don't think we played to our full capabilities but I’m not concerned about our ability to win games. The group will be fine."
D.C. United Midfielder Zoltán Stieber:
On what went wrong for the team…
“We scored early, so that was actually a good start for us. They had a lot of possession, especially on the left side. We started to get back in the game, and it would have been a good result for us to at least taken one point from here today. It’s quite disappointing.”
On the disappointing result...
“The first goal was an own goal, so that was unlucky. Those kind of goals are always disappointing, but we have a long way to go. It’s going to be a very hard first half of the season, but there’s still a long way to go and there’s still a lot of games. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get any points today, but we have to fight in the next game, and then the game after that.”
On what the team still needs to work on to secure a complete 90-minute performance…
“We had big changes over the winter, so we’re still trying to grow together. It takes some time, and as I said, it’s a long way to go [this season]. It’s very disappointing today, but we have to focus on the next week. It’s going to be a big fight for us.”
On if his performance today can spark the team’s offense going forward…
“I’m very happy about the goal and the assist. But in the end, it didn’t help us [win the game]. I want to get the three points rather than score a goal. I got 90 minutes today, so I tried to get my rhythm going, hopefully those 90 minutes will help me going forward.”
D.C. United Forward Darren Mattocks
On being substituted in and scoring on his first touch…
“I can’t take credit for that goal. From preseason, Me and Zoltán, developed a bit of chemistry. As soon as he lifts his heads up, I knew exactly where it was going. As a friend, the credit has got to go to Zoltán. It was a good finish to put it in the back of the net but Zoltán deserves the credit for that one.”
On what he is looking forward to building upon with the long road trip ahead…
“It is a grind. It’s going to be a tough stretch coming up. We have a bunch of away games and it’s tough, but we just got to move past it.”
D.C. United Defender Steven Birnbaum
Thoughts on the game…
“We can’t get in the habit of defending in our box for the majority of the game. I’m a little upset. I thought there were a couple missed calls out there. I thought there was a penalty on me. On their second goal someone came in, I don’t know who it was, and hit me late. I think that if that was anywhere else on the field, they probably call that. But we can’t make excuses. It’s part of the game. We just have to be better with the ball to create more chances going forward. We had a great start to the game, that’s what we wanted, but obviously we couldn’t sustain that pressure the entire game.”
On what happened during Philadelphia’s third goal…
“That was a dagger for us. They were overloading one side the majority of the night. They were having a lot of success going down there. I don’t really know exactly what happened, I’ll watch it, but he hit a good shot and he roofed it. We can’t let him get down there that easy, especially after a goal. It was tough.”
