United head coach Ben Olsen
On limited scoring opportunities for both teams…
“The first half was a little lethargic for us…and in some ways for both teams. At the end of the day they made the play, though, and we didn’t.”
On Deshorn Brown’s play…
“He's connecting passes, he was threat in behind and was dangerous."
United midfielder Sébastien Le Toux
On playing again in Philadelphia…
“It was nice to be here. It’s my first time coming back since being traded last year, so it was special and I’m thankful for that."
On Union goalkeeper Andre Blake’s performance…
"He's a very good goalkeeper. He set the team up for the win."
On United’s struggles to find the back of the net…
"We’re leaving a bit disappointed. The second half we pushed higher and played faster, improved the passing, had more chances, and put more balls in the box. We put more pressure on them, but Andre [Blake] made some great saves, and unfortunately we couldn’t score."
D.C. United midfielder Lamar Neagle
On the game…
"I thought it was alright. I thought we could have done better."
On his second scoring opportunity…
"Yeah, I thought it was going in. I haven't been able to score on an open play so it's frustrating."
On if enough work was put in tonight…
"Yeah, if I do better we have a result and maybe even come away with three points. I think offensively we're doing better. Defensively, we did a great job as usual. I just think offensively a few us need to pick it up."
Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin
Opening statement…
"Overall, a typical Eastern Conference grind with D.C. United. I though the first half was a little bit slow with our pressure. I thought our front four never really got out of first gear, didn’t press the way we wanted to, not a lot of sprinting from them, we talked about it at halftime. Took about to the 30th minute where we got going a little bit. I thought we passed the ball very well on the night, but our pressing wasn’t up to what we would like. Now we have to look forward to a quick turnaround against the Red Bulls in the Open Cup in a tough place to go play and then, obviously, New England at home again, need to take care of business at home."
On whether or not he’d watched the red card play yet…
"Yeah, it’s not a red card. I have to give a lot of credit to Haris [Medunjanin]. You talk about fair play in this league and all over the world. He’s the one who had the intestinal fortitude, the guts, to speak up and say, ‘There was no contact.’ He’s a man. He’s a person that I respect a great deal. It’s an incredible act. I think it’s something that you can show to not just young kids, but also a lot of the adults that play in professional soccer because, again, what he did was very honorable. It’s the right thing to do technically, I don’t know if I would’ve done it, but at the same time he did what is right for the game, so I do commend him and give him credit. A crazy situation because, on the sidelines, we’re not sure what the heck is going on. You’ve never seen a red card and then it rescinded. I know the video review is here and I had a word to the fourth official about it. We couldn’t figure out what was going on from our end but you talk with Haris and you hear what happened and [Luciano] Acosta as well. Very noble, honorable thing to do for Haris."
On the emotional boost from Andre Blake playing well…
"You feed off of that. I think it’s the loudest the crowd has been all season, too, on that save. That was the loudest this place has got…maybe ever to be honest. That was a really good ovation. Obviously him going away now most likely to the Gold Cup, he left us with a big present. I haven’t been finalized yet on when exactly he’s leaving, but at the same time that was a heck of a performance going into a competition for his country. Can’t say enough about the guy in terms of we really needed that tonight. It’s a fine line between wins and losses in this league. We’ve been on the tough end of some and tonight we come out on the right end because of a great performance by Andre."
Philadelphia Union midfielder Haris Medunjanin
On the rescinded red card to Luciano Acosta…
"Yes, it was a duel on the side . The longball came and I was protecting the ball and he pushed me in my back, and then I saw the red card. I spoke a little bit with Acosta and he was saying that he did not kick me and I said I did not feel it also. I went to the referee and he asked if he kicked me and I said I did not think that he kicked me, so I think that it was just a push. That is why there was no red card for me, you know? I hope that Felipe was watching for last week, I think it’s also the same. I think you need to be honest and I did not feel a kick, it was just a push."
On his honesty and if he had ever done that before…
"I am always honest. I try to win, but I do not want to win like dirty players. For me, it is important that we won and we played a fair game and that is why [Andre Blake] saved the ball also from the penalty. After all, it is three points, what we needed."
On if he has ever seen a red card rescinded on the field…
"I can be honest, we won the three points, so it is much easier to speak. Maybe if it was a draw or something then maybe a little bit different, but I am happy with the three points and the performance of my team."
On what the other players said about the red card decision…
"Everyone said ‘thanks man for the fair play and nice gesture.’ [Ben Olsen] came to speak with me also. It is football, you fight for the three points, but you need to be honest."
Philadelphia Union midfielder Fafa Picault
On his goal and the cross…
"In those cases, you just have to track it. The ball is put in. Our job as attackers is that the ball is coming up the right side and CJ [Sapong] has to be in there and I have to come up the left side and run in and it ended up falling onto my left foot. I think either of us would’ve put it in but it came onto me and I had to try and give it a strong one on target and give it a chance to go in."
On Andre Blake’s performance…
"Incredible. To me, he is by far the best goalie in the league. I’m really happy to have him on our side. Every week, week in and week out, he turns in great performances and it’s emotional for me during the game to watch that because it gives me a lot of motivation and it keeps me going, especially on that PK stop. We could’ve lost the game or tied the game after that."
