Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the final 20 minutes…
I would say, up until that time, we also had the best chances of the game as well. We had quite a few. Their goalkeeper was outstanding in a bunch of those. Why did we give up those goals? Poor decisions. It was poor decisions. At the end of the day, it was just poor decisions. The set piece goal that they score, we need better recognition in that situation. They had three guys at the first post and we have to be able to be with them - simple as can be. The other is we go to clear a ball into the middle of the park. You can't make that mistake. They finished well in their chances, but the game wasn't a 4-1 game as far as I'm concerned. But they scored their goals and we didn't. So that’s the difference in the game today.
On if heads dropped after the first goal…
Obviously, we have got to get back into the game at that point. But, again, I think we went away from what we were doing for the majority of the game. Unfortunately, we did but now we have got to change it up.
On if it can be attributed to the absence of Johnny Russell…
I don't know. All of these guys have played the game long enough. They don't need one guy to cheer them along and help them along. I think maybe there were certain things that Johnny could have helped in the game with, but no, I think that the guys were more than capable. They were more than capable.
On the team’s results in St. Louis…
At the end of the day, they're losses. The rest of it is what it is, but they're losses. That's the problem with it. That's what I don't like.
On what he would have changed in the second half…
All the guys that went into the game were capable. They were more than capable. Unfortunately, what happened happened and we have got to get over it quickly.
On the challenge and headbutt on Jake Davis…
I saw the challenge. I thought that was over the top. Personally, I think it was over the top. I didn't see the headbutt. I heard that's what he did, but I didn't see it.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia
Thoughts on the match…
I thought we defended well in the first half. We always knew it was going to be a game where they were going to get opportunities and I think everyone was defending really well and committing. They're a good team. They're a team that grinds you down and ultimately that's kind of what they did. They took their opportunity on a set piece and we kind of just started opening the door for them a little bit. They have quality where they're going to take advantage of it. That's pretty much the story of the game.
On the loss…
I thought it was great to see our traveling fans to come to this game. They’re always supporting us. We always know they have got our back, but ultimately for us the objective is the same. We said we needed to win two of these last three games and we still have to do that. It would have been great to get the go-ahead win in the rivalry, but ultimately that is not our goal. We need to make sure we get into playoffs and now we've just made the task a little bit more difficult but the objective still remains the same.
On if the team was deflated after the first goal…
I think it has more to do with the fact of the quality they have. Are they avoidable goals? 100 percent, but I think when you're under that much pressure and then all of a sudden you drop the curtain for a second, a quality team is going to take advantage of it.
On the goals conceded…
Any goal that goes in is my responsibility as the goalkeeper. So the first person that I evaluate is myself. Is my positioning good? Was my decision making good? So that's what I'll do when I go back and look at this game. The goalkeeper's job is to keep teams in the game and ultimately when I'm letting in four goals, I'm not doing that. So the first person I will always look at is myself.
On what the team could have done differently in the second half…
I think if we just continued the way that we played up until that first goal, I think we have an opportunity to get out of here with the result.
