Columbus Crew SC Head Coach Gregg Berhalter
On having a dominating first half:
“I think it’s partly just the guys’ believing in themselves and understanding how good they are, and how good they can be. When we move the ball like that, we are very difficult to play against. The movements and the pressure that we put on the Fire to get behind their back line and penetrate was just relentless. It was a good performance in the first half, especially.”
On why the team dominated tonight:
“I think for the most part, the guys were up for it. They were up for the challenge. I think everyone was disappointed about the game in Montreal and we wanted to play better and we did.”
On the importance of getting their first goal before half:
“I thought it was important. I think that we needed validation for playing that well. The validation is goals. We got it. You got to keep going from there.”
On the goal:
“That move was fantastic. There’s some other moves in the first half that were fantastic and in the second half, I saw a couple of good moves as well.”
Columbus Crew SC Midfielder Ethan Finlay
On the team’s win:
“I thought it was a great game for us. In the first half, it was probably some of the best football we’ve played all year. It was fantastic. It was fun to watch and it was fun to be a part of. It was great to get a goal in the first half, and we could’ve had a couple more. The second half was a little different. But the second half we showed a little bit of determination and showed our ability and willpower and overcome a very good team. The [Fire] have a lot of pace and are very dangerous. We are happy with three points.”
On his assist:
“We identified that we knew they’d have space behind them, especially in transition and as I saw when we picked the ball up, I just released and played a nice ball in front and it was off to the races. That’s the moment when I try to find the guys in the box and I’ll take my odds on Kei versus anyone in the league on the back post. I just floated it up there and he did the rest.”
On the team’s first win in Chicago since 2006:
“What’s more important is where it puts us in the standings right now. There’s a lot of teams bunched up right here and Chicago’s a team that’s in the lower half of the table and we need to take advantage of those teams right now. Unfortunately we didn’t get to do that last week against Montreal but we’re happy with this win here. We need another win back home on Sunday.”
Columbus Crew SC Forward Kei Kamara
On his goal:
“I just wanted to put the ball in the back of the net because I had a few more chances before that. Sean [Johnson] made some amazing saves tonight and give him all the credit for those. I saw the ball from Ethan [Finlay] and I was just thinking about putting the ball in the back of the net.”
On not finishing his chances before that first goal and seeming frustrated:
“As a striker you just got to keep going. You hope for another chance. You just don’t want it to be one chance. You want to have more chances. I was just hoping for another one, to get another one. When you have something inside the six yard box, or just at the line and the keeper makes a save like that, it gets in your head a little bit. Yes, he did a good job.”
On coming out strong tonight as a team:
“Determination. It’s been really tough for us on the road and we came in here determined. We know we’re going to play them here and go back home against the same team. We said it’s finally time to get something on the road. It was perfect work from everyone. Three points from one goal, but three points is huge.”
On how important that goal was before half:
“It was definitely [important]. They came out in the second half and they played a good game. hey made some really good subs that had an impact in the game. So it was good for us to get that goal in the first half. We had a lot of chances. Like is said, Sean [Johnson] made some really good saves and we’re connecting really well. We had some really good chances and getting the first goal before halftime was key. We couldn’t get another one but again one goal is enough sometimes.”
