HOUSTON DYNAMO 1, COLUMBUS CREW 1
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On Brian Ching's goal, overall play and 69th minute substitution:
"First with the sub, [Ching] was tired. He said that his energy was spent; that's why the decision was made to take him off. With the goal, it was good play by Brian Mullan down the right hand side. It was a good cross, and Brian [Ching] finishes well. His overall play was good tonight; he held the ball well. Both him and Alejandro [Moreno] did that well. Both of them were dangerous together, so I was pleased with that."
On the result:
"Let's just say I think we're playing below ourselves right now, and the results are showing that."
On the strategy late in the match:
"Well the strategy was to win, that's why I brought in Brad [Davis] to give us some more attacking looks, set pieces, balls from wide. I just kept telling guys to go forward, to play the game the same way from the first to the 90th ... just to keep putting pressure on them."
HOUSTON DYNAMO FORWARD BRIAN CHING
On the goal:
"I set the ball up well, got it out wide, and just got in the box. I know [Brian] Mullan beats his man the majority of the time, he crossed in a great ball."
On his homecoming from the World Cup:
"It's good ... it's fun to be back in front of the Houston fans again; they're fantastic. I love to play on the field here, I'm just a little disappointed with the result. I think we should be beating these teams, and we're actually tying them. I'm a little disappointed about that, but I'm happy to be back in front of the Houston fans."
On Dynamo's game plan for winning the West:
"We just can't drop points like we did tonight. We have to come out and play soccer for 90 minutes ... not 45 or 60. We just have to concentrate and play complete games, and I think we need to get back to doing that."
HOUSTON DYNAMO DEFENDER EDDIE ROBINSON
On his play after coming back after suspension:
"For the most part [I'm pleased], I think I made a little mental error on the penalty. I don't think they had many chances tonight. I think we did a very good job of limiting their chances. They really weren't dangerous. They got what we gave them, and that's about it."
On the penalty kick:
"I made one good tackle, got a bit unlucky. The ball hopped over my foot. He took a touch in front of me. I thought I could get it so I went for it. I don't know whether I got him or not, but he was convincing enough that the referee gave the penalty."
On whether Dynamo will be ready for Chivas USA:
"Absolutely, we're getting tired of having the same conversation after every game -- that teams that don't deserve to be getting a point off us are. That's probably three or four games now that we should have at least had seven or nine points. We're pretty frustrated so we're going to come out hard on Saturday."
COLUMBUS CREW HEAD COACH SIGI SCHMID
On getting late results:
"Goals help you gain confidence and once we got the penalty kick, we began playing a lot better."
On losing players to injuries:
"I have to be very proud of our team. We have had to play through so many injuries and we are a pretty inexperienced team, when you look at our front six, the amount of MLS games that our team has, it doesn't equal that amount of experience that the players from Houston have."
On scoring in the second half:
"Obviously you always want to come out and score early. Just look at the games in the World Cup; they are a great example of what an early goal can do to a team."
On the team's reaction to Houston's early goal:
"You are always a little worried how a team reacts to going down early, but after about 15 minutes or so I think we caught ourselves and got ourselves back into the game."
COLUMBUS CREW FORWARD JOSEPH NGWENYA
On the game:
"I am happy getting a point against Houston. It's great getting a point when you are away from home, but I think we created enough chances that we could have walked away with three points tonight."
On the team's performance:
"Our defense gave us a great chance to win the game and kept us in it the whole time."
On the Crew's second half goal and tying the game:
"After we scored I think that the momentum switched to our side. I think we created more chances we are just unfortunate not to be able to finish those opportunities."
