Head coach Ben Olsen
On the match...
“I was extremely disappointed in how we started the game but other than that I thought we defended fairly well and the effort was there… but the overall quality in the final third wasn’t."
On the defensive performance...
"We asked the guys to summon some grit and have a tougher mentality... and they did that today. I was disappointed to concede an early deflected goal and we had a couple of guys that didn’t start the game well. We weren’t able to weather the storm that we knew was inevitably going to come in a difficult stadium. It was a tough result but a gutsy performance."
On having an off week to prepare for Columbus Crew SC...
"We have a few injured players returning so we’ll get them into the mix and get their fitness levels to where they need to be. We’ll tweak some things, work on some of our deficiencies and be ready to compete against Columbus in two weeks."
United defender Steven Birnbaum
On conceding the first goal early in the match…
“It’s tough to come back when you give up a goal in the first few minutes of the game. They’re a good group and as the away team we can’t let that happen in the first minutes of the match because then we have to chase.”
On how the team responded in the second half…
“I thought we responded pretty well in the second half, but unfortunately we couldn’t find a goal and sneak out of here with a point.”
On how the team defended against Sporting’s attack…
“I was proud of how the whole team came back and defended. We knew what we were getting into and it was a lot of work for us. I’m proud of the guys for putting in that work because [Children’s Mercy Park] is a tough place to play.”
On what they have to work on before their next match…
“We have a lot to work on. We’ll have a home game so we don’t have to travel and we have two weeks to focus on our game against the Columbus. That’s what we’re going to do and we’re going to throw all of our energy into that game.”
United forward Dane Kelly
On making his MLS debut…
“Unfortunately It was not the result I wanted to get on my debut, but it was a good experience. I got about six minutes out there, got a few touches on the ball and got that first taste of MLS action.”
On what he hopes to accomplish the rest of the season…
“I’m hoping to get more goals and help the team earn points in the standings.”
Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the match...
"I thought we were very good in possession for most of the game. We thought they were going to try to counter quite often and I thought we dealt with those really well. I thought we created some great chances. Our counters were really good. I think we were really good. Other than getting a second goal, we were great."
On earning a clean sheet…
"Our decision making was at a higher level today all throughout the game. In those other games, we made some really poor decisions that this group would not make those mistakes at this time anymore. We started getting into a place where we weren’t responding correctly to situations. Tonight, I thought we were locked in. We knew when it was time to step up, when to drop off, when to clear the ball, when to keep possession. It was smart by the group."
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia
On the shutout…
"I think more important than the clean sheet was the overall performance from start to finish. It was something we hadn’t done all season. We’d either had a good first half or had a good second half but never put the whole complete package together. We have to use this game to understand that we can defend. We’re a very good defensive team – we were just a little bit unlucky to start the season. We have to use this as something to build off."
