- Match: Atlanta United at SJ Earthquakes
- Location: Avaya Stadium, San Jose, CA
- Date: September 19, 2018
- Final Score: SJ 3-4 ATL (Recap | Highlights)
ATLANTA UNITED FC HEAD COACH GERARDO ‘TATA’ MARTINO
On if he thought the game was wild and exciting:
“Yeah, even though we’re happy with turning the game around and coming back two goals down, we can’t lose sight of the fact of all the errors that we made tonight and how we got into that situation in the first place.”
On rallying back from two goals down:
“I think it shows that the team had a lot of spirit tonight and that’s what we can rescue from this game. We’re able to fight back and get the comeback but if we would have played like that against a team that is fighting on top of the table, I think we could have lost this game by a few goals. There are some things to work on.”
On if the mistakes made on defense seemed familiar:
“No, I think the goals were all different so the errors were different. On the first one, we just looked at the replay and we think it started with a handball on Eriksson and then they made a long pass and were able to get behind our defense for the goal. The second one was just a long ball that usually we’re able to deal with but on this occasion we weren’t and it turned into a goal. Then the third goal was Vako. It was something that we have seen and we looked at before this game is his ability to do that. He takes on three guys and he’s able to score that way.”
On his opinion of VAR after it benefitted his team:
“For us, we thought it was a handball in real time. We could see from the bench that it was a clear handball when Tito crossed the ball so if the referee calls it the first time then they don’t have the opportunity to go down and score.”
ATLANTA UNITED FC MIDFIELDER MIGUEL ALMIRON
On what the comeback victory says about the team:
“I think it shows the unity that we have within this group. It also shows what I’ve been saying lately; that the substitutes that come on are doing a really good job and that was important for us.”
On what he saw before the VAR decision:
“We were protesting because it was a hand ball and I think we lost our concentration and they went out and scored. Thanks to God, there was justice on the play and it came back and turned into a goal.”
On if the team was fatigued after playing a match three days earlier:
“No, we weren’t fatigued. It was a difficult game against a difficult opponent and a lot of teams play us like it’s a final. We played three days ago but we came out today and put in a great effort.”
ATLANTA UNITED FC DEFENDER MICHAEL PARKHURST
On how ‘weird’ the game was:
“It had everything, that’s for sure. I’ve played in some crazy games and that’s right up towards the top.”
On whether he was aware the referee was reviewing a handball:
“Yeah, we had told him. We asked him if he was going to look at the hand ball. We knew he was looking at that or the offside.”
On whether there was a change in play by San Jose after the call reversal:
“Yeah, absolutely. It changes the game. 4-1 to 3-2 right away. It gives us momentum. As soon as that goes in, we get the feeling we’re destined to get at least a point out of this game.”
On the team’s character:
“The mentality of the team was really strong. There was no quit. We just kept going. It wasn’t our night defensively. We had a lot of mistakes, gave us some goals, but we hung in there and three points is three points.”
On the intensity of San Jose:
“We know they’re a dangerous team offensively. We talked about it, that they’ve lost some high-scoring games this year and that their offense is very capable of scoring good goals. They proved it tonight. But we also knew we were going to be able to create our chances and score our goals. That’s how it turned out.”
On the defensive struggles:
“Lost our battles all over the place. Moments of lapses, mentally and physically. There’s things we need to shore up for sure, but six points from these two road games is massive and now we go home to try and finish it out nine for nine.”
