LOS ANGELES GALAXY 2, SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES 1
LOS ANGELES GALAXY HEAD COACH STEVE SAMPSON
On the game:
"It was certainly the best game of the three that I have been a part of. In the first half, we set the tempo and found a system that will suit us better moving forward. We held the ball much better in the midfield, which allowed us to get behind the flanks and created more space for Andy [Herzog] and [Alejandro] Moreno. Peter Vagenas and Marcelo Saragosa were the key tonight. The pass on the goal by [Arturo] Torres came from Peter Vagenas. Now, we have a relationship between our central midfielders.
"With all the chances we had, we should have had more goals, but overall we are very pleased. We haven't won in a long and I think it will add a lot of confidence at a critical time."
On the performances of Ngwenya and Torres:
"I think you will find now that Joseph Ngwenya is a very exciting player and we he came on that in itself helped us a lot because they had to respect his speed. [Arturo] Torres on the right side did a great job coming on. San Jose made two changes on the left side to handle those adjustments."
On Carlos Ruiz not being available for selection:
"Thankfully, it was not a distraction but it was an issue. It was brought up in a pre-game meeting -- where is Carlos? I explained it to them, they got it and put it behind them."
On the next game:
"The match against Dallas next week is very important. We need to get three points there to stay in the race. We have five games left, five tough games. Confidence is the key word for today, because they were questioning themselves a little bit, and now they have found themselves tonight."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY MIDFIELDER SASHA VICTORINE
On his goal:
"At the beginning of the play, I headed toward the far post and I saw Ryan (Suarez) and Alejandro (Moreno) running behind me, and I decided they were going to take that post, so I decided to get to the near. Alejandro got his head on it well, but he headed it into the crossbar and it came right back to me for a tap-in."
On the Galaxy's aggressive play:
"We have been trying to get this going for a little while, obviously it's a new style for us but I think we are going to build off this. We did well at times and some things we need to work on, but still I think we did very well overall."
On next weeks match against Dallas:
"It doesn't get any easier from here, but it is in our hands. We need to show everyone that we will be a force over the rest of the season and in the playoffs."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD ARTURO TORRES
On his first career goal:
"It felt good. Steve gave me the confidence, this is the third game that weve played with him in charge and I have played every game. He gives me confidence and I give him 100% every time I get in."
On the Galaxy's aggressive play:
"Everyday, we are getting more used to Steve's style of play. We have been working with him for more than two weeks now, so we are getting used to his practices and his style of play. We are in sync now and we are looking more like a team now."
On next week's match against Dallas:
"We just have to take it one game at a time and coming up next is Dallas. We have to focus on that and work hard during the week so that we can get the result that we want."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the game:
"This wasn't one of our better games and we didn't help ourselves with our play in the first 60 minutes. We were pressing once they went up 1-0 and that is what led to the second goal. We tried to get back in the game with Ronnie's goal, but it just wasn't enough tonight.
"I think as a team we pride ourselves on our possession game and tonight we didn't play the way we are capable of playing. We did not control the ball tonight like we wanted to."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER RONNIE EKELUND
On the goal:
"It was a free kick and they headed it away, and then the ball bounced once to me and I had just enough time to set myself for a nice strike. I tried to open up and send it back to the left side of the goal. Unfortunately, it was a little bit too late."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER RICHARD MULROONEY
On the game:
"We just didn't have it tonight. You can probably place the blame all the way around. We didn't perform the way we wanted to, and we weren't able to control the ball. They played a good game and it was just not to be tonight for us."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER TODD DUNIVANT
On the game:
"We are obviously disapointed with the loss. We wanted to get a result tonight. They came to play and I thought we defended pretty well for most of the game, but they broke through a couple times and things just didn't go our way."
