Sporting Kansas City opened the 2017 MLS regular-season with a 0-0 draw against D.C. United at RFK Stadium on Saturday night. Goalkeeper Tim Melia proved to be the hero as his first-half double save, where he denied Marcelo Sarvas' penalty kick and Patrick Mullins' rebound, kept the game scoreless. Gerso Fernandes, Benny Feilhaber and Dom Dwyer were all impressively denied by D.C. 'keeper Bill Hamid as Sporting KC takes a point into next week's home opener against FC Dallas at Children's Mercy Park.
Manager Peter Vermes
On the performance:
“Coming into someone else’s place, first game of the season, I thought we controlled the majority of the game. I thought in the second half, defensively we were stellar, we gave absolutely nothing away other than that little melee on the corner, and we defended really well, we showed a lot of spirit and fight to not give up any goals. For Tim (Melia) to make the penalty kick save was very big. There’s only one thing I might say is that we had a difficulty sometimes in the final third, it’s because at times they had a six or seven block, a line that we had to try to get through and that is not easy to do. We still created some stuff, we had some fantastic shots, Hamid made some very good saves and at the end this is a well-deserved point for us on the road.”
On not using any substitutes:
“It was very simple, I said to the guys on the bench ‘I don’t see a need to change when all of our guys were playing well,’ and you could tell that they were getting their rest at the right times to recover and get right back in. I don’t think just because you have three subs means you have to use them, I just felt the 11 guys that were out there were in a good rhythm and I didn’t want to disrupt that piece.”
On if keeping possession allowed his team to rest:
“It’s a game early on in the season so both teams are going to sort of be at the same level of fitness. I think the other piece of it is that we did have good possession during the game and we were in control a lot of times with the ball, which was a big part of our game that helped us as far as a conditioning perspective. The last piece is that positionally, all the guys were very good in regards to their role and responsibility which didn’t put us in situations where we had to spend a lot of energy chasing the game because either we gave away the ball or we were just in bad allocations of our positions, but we didn’t have that tonight and that really helped us.”
On Gerso Fernandes’ performance:
“You’ve got to remember, it’s our first game. We’re all still getting used to each other and the tendencies of some of the players. There’s no doubt that there’s a lot to work with in our group, and there are a bunch of other guys on this roster that are going to have a major impact so, as far as his first outing, I thought it was good. I thought at times he was very dangerous going forward, he was very good one-v-one, he recovered some balls, his game instincts were really, really good. We also had a game plan tonight, the guys played to it very well. They were able to take the ideas that we talked about and actually implement them in the game and that’s a really good sign going forward.”
On Ilie Sanchez’s performance:
“Very calm presence, reads the game extremely well. Not only won a lot of balls through reading the passing lanes, but also just his game instincts whether to go to the left or the right, to cover us because that’s where we needed cover seeing as we were overloaded on one side or what have you, he was really, really good in that regard and then his ball distribution was fantastic. The more we understand each other, I just see us growing from game to game, which is going to be a good thing because I think we’re going to be able to do a lot of other things that right now maybe we didn’t do, and it’s not because we can’t, it’s just that we’ll be more familiar with some of the things that we’ll have the possibility of later.”
On if the shutout pleased him the most:
“That’s one, but the fighting spirit of the team and the level-headedness throughout the course of the match. We never really lost ourselves in the game. I say lost ourselves meaning that either we felt like we had to start pushing too many numbers forward, we just stayed calm and cool within the game throughout. We stayed very disciplined to the game plan and also what the score of the game was. We knew that we’re going to come here and spend all that energy, we better at least leave with a point and we didn’t play for that, but I think the guys recognized that in the game. Getting a clean sheet is always a huge thing.”
On if he’s impressed with how well Gerso and Ilie have assimilated:
“It does say a lot about both those players, it also says a lot in the fact that where we recruit from is places where they play a very similar system that we do. It’s just the nuances of what the team does, but those guys worked hard in preseason, those guys tried to assimilate themselves in many different ways and obviously it’s paid off and they were rewarded for it today because both players played very well.”
Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia
On SKC's overall performance...
“I thought the guys did an excellent job. Everyone was committed to defending. Guys made a lot of huge plays—goal line clearances, tackles, headers. I thought collectively as a group, with the amount of new guys we have, there were a lot of positives. You could see little sparks of how good some of these guys are. I think there are a lot of positives moving forward and going into our first home match.”
On saving the Marcelo's penalty and Mullins' rebound…
“I just stepped hard at them. The penalty hit my left hand and my momentum carried through. Fortunately we got out of there with two saves and the penalty didn’t hurt the game.”
On SKC's final trip to RFK…
“This is a cool stadium, a historic stadium. It’s a cool place to play. But I’m happy they're getting a new stadium—it will be beneficial for the whole league.”
Sporting KC defender Ike Opara
On SKC's overall performance…
“It was a decent game for the first game of the year. We did a lot of good things offensively and defensively. It’s not going to be a perfect first game, and we know that, but I think if we take a step back and look at it, we'll be pleased with how we came out today.”
On Melia's penalty save…
“Tim did what he’s always been good at—just reacting. His save picked us up and helped us finish off the half.”
On SKC's final game at RFK…
“It’s a little bittersweet getting to play in RFK one last time, but at least I get to say that I played in it. D.C. United was my first MLS game as a kid. They were the team I rooted for. It’s kind of a dream that I got to play here.”
On going on the road and getting a clean sheet…
“Getting a clean sheet is always the goal, especially when you are on the road. If you can keep a 'zero,' you have a chance to win every time. Unfortunately we didn’t get a win but we did get a point, and that's important, especially in the first game of the year.”
D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen
Overall thoughts on the game…
“I thought it was a gutsy performance. As a defensive exercise it was impressive; the guys looked after each other. I thought the back four, wide midfielders, and wide backs did a good job at dealing with aggressive overlaps. Offensively, we were maybe not as sharp as we wanted. You’re going to have days like that and you have to try to get something out of them. When I think back on the game, we had just as many good chances as they did and I think they’re one of the better teams in the league. They’re going to be good this year and I give [the guys] a lot of credit.”
On Sean Franklin and Nick DeLeon…
“I thought they both did well, but Nick [DeLeon] was fantastic. I think he’s born for that position and he just needs to fine-tune some things. If we’re better in the center of the field then Nick [DeLeon] and Taylor [Kemp] can get involved in the attack a little more. Sean [Franklin] was great; he didn’t do much wrong all night.”
On the offensive responsibility without Luciano Acosta…
“Julian [Büscher] is a guy that can contribute. Ian Harkes has some of that skillset. It’s not a single person. It’s the responsibility of Patrick [Nyarko], Lloyd Sam, Patrick Mullins...everybody. There’s not just one player that singlehandedly relieves pressure. Lucho [Acosta] would certainly have helped but he wasn’t out there. I thought Julian [Büscher] was very good for a while, but started to get a little fatigued. He went through preseason with a couple of injuries and he’s not fully sharp yet.”
D.C. United defender Steven Birnbaum
On his first game with the Captain’s band…
“It was cool. Obviously it was my first time, so I was pretty excited and happy to do it at RFK with a bunch of fans, so it was fun.”
On playing with Nick DeLeon and against Dom Dwyer …
“I thought they both played well. Nick [DeLeon] kind of shut down the right side and…Dom’s [Dwyer] a handful, so anytime you can keep him off of the score sheet, it’s a good thing.”
D.C. United defender Taylor Kemp
On the result…
“You can’t be too disappointed to get the clean sheet for the first game of the year, especially because our back line has gone through a little bit of a transition. I thought, defensively, we were good. I thought we worked hard, but some of those early-season jitters were still there or we’re not understanding each other quite as well as we want to, but that will come in time.”
On the defensive line…
“I thought we had a good night. For how much pressure we were under at times, we held strong pretty well and the chances they had weren’t that good, so I think we’ll look at this game as a positive for sure—but there’s always work to be done. For having our first real game with Sean [Franklin] in there--Nick [DeLeon] played a little bit last year--and having two new guys in there, I thought we did pretty well. I thought our understanding was pretty good, so definitely a positive tonight.”
D.C. United defender Sean Franklin
On dealing with defensive switches…
“That’s what preseason is for. We had a lot of time back there to work on our game and it was good today—I think it was an improvement. We did alright and although we got the shutout, a ‘W’ would have been nice on our home opener.”
On finishing chances…
“We had some chances, we just didn’t finish them. I would’ve liked to have had a little bit more, but on the day, I think if we were sharper we’d win this game 2-1 or 2-0, but we’ll look at the film, see how we can get better as a team and hopefully we can go up to New York and get a result.”
On playing at home…
“I think everyone’s disappointed that we didn’t come up with a win. We’re at home—we’ve got to get three points at home—and it’s only going to get tougher. We’ve got New York next week, which is going to be a tough game and we need a result there.”
On the defensive line…
“It’s good. Everyone is talking to each other, and that’s the main thing, as we have new guys in new spots and everyone communicating with the next guy is going to help our team be successful is.”
On appointing Steve Birnbaum to Team Captain…
“We’re on board with the coach’s decision and I think Steve [Birnbaum] can lead this group and he’ll do fine as captain.”
On goalkeeper Bill Hamid…
“It’s good to see him back. Bill [Hamid] was doing what he does best and he made some big saves for us tonight and that’s something that we’re going to need throughout the season. He’s a voice back there—he’s always talking to me and helping. Bill knows that playing center back is new for me and he said he’s going to talk me through it and, like I said, I think everyone talking as a whole in the back is going to make our team better.”
