Toronto 3, Atlanta United 2: What was said

It’s a pity that he (Martinez) missed the penalty. IT was a tough game for us but I still think we had opportunities to make 3 or 4 goals. If we score at the end and walk away with one point, I think we would be satisfied.

On Toronto having control up and down the flanks in the 1st half vs regaining control in the 2nd half…..

We play much more in the zone in the second half and pressed them high. We had a bit more control and created some chances.

On the team potentially looking rusty with only playing their fourth game this month…..

No, I don’t think so. Everybody is fit enough. Of course, we are missing important players but so are they so that is no excuse. The game could have went either way, we could have 3 points, they could have three points. Maybe at the end a draw would be good for both sides.

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BRAD GUZAN – GOALKEEPER, ATLANTA UNITED FC

What do you make of the final minutes of the game?

It’s a bit chaotic. We had a chance to get a draw. Sometimes you make penalties, sometimes you don’t, it is what it is. I’m more frustrated and disappointed in the way we played for ninety minutes because it certainly wasn’t good enough. We knew it was going to be a tough game. You come to toronto and you know they are going to be organized. Always a good team performance and today was no different. When you gift them a goal a minute into the game you really got your work cut out. On top of that we weren’t good. Talk about spacing, talk about being in really close to guys. We didn’t do any of that.

Something wasn’t right, any theories as to what it was?

Simply it wasn’t good enough. Our spacing wasn’t good. The game was open. The chances that we were gifting them, giving them away. I’m not even talking about the goals. The second half our ability to be sound defensively, we weren’t good enough tonight.

What happened on the goals?

We lose the ball in the middle of the pitch, it can happen. Our reactions aren’t quick enough. The ball gets deflected. I think it almost takes two deflections. They got runners in the box and they’re able to get to it first. Second goal, again, our spacing is not ideal and he ends up heading the ball and it’s going wide and then comes of Leandro’s head. Those moments we just seem to be late everywhere on the pitch.

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JULIAN GRESSEL – MIDFIELDER, ATLANTA UNITED FC

Losing on a missed penalty any more deflating than a regular loss?

No, I mean a loss is a loss. Especially the way we lost today, with that late penalty for them. It was a crazy game in general. It’s zero points for us and three points for them.

Why do you think y’all couldn’t seem to get a grip on what Toronto was doing tonight?

I mean obviously they are playing with some different personnel where they are not having that clear striker up top might of caused some problems for us. In the way where they were switching around a lot popping up in different spots, Pozuelo and DeLeon worked off each other pretty well. Maybe that caused some trouble for us.

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GREG VANNEY – TORONTO FC COACH

Assume you’re pretty proud of the guys after that game?

Very much so, the game had a lot of twists and turns but the guys stepped up and I’m proud of them too because we made some adjustments gameday. Guys were clear in their heads and were courageous, stayed together as a group and battled to the end, literally. Proud of them, it was a game with a lot of twists and turns like I said, and the guys just stuck with it, stayed resilient and in the end pulled it out.

What were your thoughts on Jacob’s first start?

Outstanding, just outstanding. There’s a lot of things he still will learn, a lot of things I think he can be more efficient especially on the defensive side so he’s not having to do quite so much running from end line to end line and our backline can help him positionally a little bit as well, put him in the right spots. But the kid could run all day and he’s incredibly fast and puts a ton of pressure on the backline and the outside backs on their defensive side. He’s done it since day one of preseason and it’s just kind of been a process through league rules and everything else to get to this point where we can utilize him. He’s got a lot of courage, one of the things I said about him in preseason was the kid doesn’t seem in awe of anything. He goes out there and he knows who he is and he just does what he does and tonight he did it against a very good player in Parkhurst.

What went through your mind when it looks like you’ve got it across the line for the win and the referee goes to VAR and points to the spot?

I’m not sure I can say all the words that were going through my mind. Un-for-lievable is a word we made up many years ago which means unfortunately believable which means the way our season is going this is another one of those nights. Fortunately, I feel like maybe the first time in a long, long time a play went our way and that was just the fortune of a very good player missing. Luckily Q went to that side and maybe it makes the goal look a little bit smaller but, in the end, we needed them to miss that. I mean two VAR’s I feel like of the last several goals we’ve given up, half of them have been called by VAR. We’ve got to help ourselves but hopefully we can get on the other side of some of those at some point.

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JACOB SHAFFELBURG – MIDFIELDER/FORWARD, TORONTO FC

Not a bad debut what was it like?

Leading up to it I was super nervous but everyone on the team, pretty much every single person, came up to me and said be yourself out there and play your game. So that certainly made feel a lot better going on the field and once I was on the field it felt like a normal game. It felt amazing to be out there with all the guys.

Being involved in the first goal, quickest goal in TFC history, you caught your groove and never let go.

Yeah, I just...when that ball slipped through and Marky played me in, it's what I do it all the time, just cross it in, so I crossed it in, and I saw Tsubasa finish it. I was at loss for words. It was crazy.

It must be nice getting a win after the team hadn’t done that in eight straight games. 

Yeah it was an amazing feeling, especially that was the most fans I’ve played in front of before. So that was just a surreal feeling after the final whistle, it was amazing.

Did your parents make it?

Yeah, my mom and dad were both there. It was great to see them, I gave my mom a big hug after the game and she was all teared up. It was amazing.

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TSUBASA ENDOH – MIDFIELDER, TORONTO FC

How does it feel to be the player that scored the fastest goal in TFC history? Did you know at the time?

I had no idea. It happened so quick, I just celebrated an I had no idea. It’s great it got me going of course. Yeah, I take my chances, and score in what 30 seconds. I’m happy about it. More that we took three points at home and that is the most important thing for us for now and I’m so happy about it.

How does it feel starting and helping the team snap an eight-game winless streak?

It feels amazing. Like I can't really explain how I feel right now. But the end of the day we took three points, no matter how and we grinded and grinded. We came out, we were strong like a wall…

Your coach was celebrating his 200th game and pushed a lot of right buttons for you to win by putting you in the lineup. 

I didn’t know that was Greg’s 200th game until I got on the pitch right before the game starts. I am so happy for him and so happy that we got three points for him. And especially in the last two months we had a tough stretch, and we came out with a strong performance and took three points at home. It’s great.

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