New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps
On the difficulty of translating possession into chances:

“First you credit Montreal, because I thought they did a good job, and a good game-plan. Unfortunately for us I think we do like it when teams kind of pack it in and do that. Usually we’re pretty good and tonight our movement was just a little bit off. It’s tough because you have a great week of training, and we trained very hard for that scenario. I thought we did excellent and it was one of our best weeks of training in terms of that. I thought we’d get a little bit more early service, a little bit more penetration in different areas, but ultimately we weren’t able to. When you have a couple guys just a little bit off, you know a team that’s back behind the ball, it’s tough to break down. We were just a little bit off.”

On what his side could have done differently:

“First and foremost, there’s the speed of play. We knew they were going to be on us and we knew Lee (Nguyen) was going to be marked, and there was a guy following around Jermaine (Jones). So those guys, how quickly can we play it? It’s not always the first ball that’s going to beat you, it’s going to be the second or the third where if we got it off and got it back. I thought Lee was having a good game at times, but then getting more and more frustrated cause the ball was really fast, it was moving quickly, and we couldn’t get it settled. Some of our usual really good one, two touch passing was just a little bit off. And usually when that’s happening, if it connects, that’s when teams have to take a step further back and not be so strong in their blocks. I think it comes down to that, a little bit of one or two passes off at the right moment. That kind of combination play that unsettles teams, that wasn’t as good as it can be. I thought we didn’t get enough early service. There weren’t a ton of opportunities, but when we did, the ball was a little bit, the crosses were a little bit too easy to deal with from their perspective.”

On London Woodberry stepping into backline:

“Yeah I thought London was really good. I thought London has been excellent in training. I thought the last time he played, against New York, he was great. And then he got suspended on a yellow card suspension. He’s always been right there. He’s got the combinations. He’s physical, reads the game really well, and he’s got good feet, and can defend. We need those combinations tonight. And he’s played center back, so I felt that he could help cover on anything long or deep, if, for whatever reason Farrell got stuck with Drogba, and if we need cover. Yeah I thought London, Jose (Goncalves), and Andrew Farrell were really good tonight.”

On the impact of Ignacio Piatti’s goal:

“That’s a tough one. I have to see it again, but I had a pretty good view of it. We were on his heels, and we were there, and we probably should’ve taken a foul. I think we were playing it way too straight up and I’d like to see us sense that a guy like Piatti, if he got a  little bit more space, was going to be dangerous, even though it didn’t seem dangerous when he first started with the run. And then he kind of shifted, it wasn’t like he blew by people but he just kind of lumbered his way to a great spot. Then all of a sudden he gets it on his right foot, he’s got class with his right foot, and we’ll be seeing that for a while.”

On the record-setting attendance of 42,947 tonight:

“I think it’s awesome. The fans were great tonight. I thought we went about the game to really get energized. I felt like when we scored the goal that was called back it felt like this place was going to explode at any moment. As a coach you’re disappointed because you know on any given night if we can play the way we’re capable of we would have had that explosion tonight. I credit the fans for being here because I think it’s great. It was a tremendous night. I just wish we could’ve given them a little bit more to go home and celebrate.”

On Juan Agudelo’s play recently:

“Yeah he’s been really good. He’s fully fit, he’s fully strong. I think he’s starting to show another level to his game. I think watching Charlie (Davies) also helped Juan, in terms of you know Charlie plays it very differently. He’s a little bit more of a player who wants to get behind and looking to open defenses, and Juan always wants to hold it. But Juan needs to change the game up a little bit, he can’t always just try to battle the two center backs and not have any deception to get behind or thread it behind. I think you want see Juan adding that to his game. Not so much tonight because they were packed in so much but I think you’re seeing that he can do that. We’re excited about where he’s going. We’re excited about the matchup of being able to have Juan and Charlie as good players playing off of each other.”

New England Revolution midfielder Scott Caldwell
On why it was so difficult to break through tonight:

“I thought we started off well, had a good first half. We just weren’t able to put it together in the final third type of thing and then we kind of let them hang around and they’re a team that needed the result as well. We just we couldn’t break them down once they got in their shell so we’ve got to work on that and be prepared for next week.”

On Montreal’s style of play making it difficult to create opportunities:

“We knew that’s the way they play, especially away, they’re going to sit in and look to break on the counter and we just got to do a better job of finding that final pass, that slip pass to break them down and put them away.”

On the confidence level of getting to the playoffs:

“We just know we need to, we have to go to New York and we have to get a result. We want to get points there and really go in with a little bit of momentum. As poorly as the results have fallen for us in the past few weeks we’re still together, we’re going to get a result this week and look forward to doing that and getting into the playoffs.”

On the frustration of not clinching:

“We’re disappointed in the results we’re getting but we still have belief. We still know that we can do it and we can turn this thing around and get some results.”

On being named New England Revolution Santander Most Valuable Player:

“It definitely means a lot for the fans to vote for me and the feedback I got from my teammates and it meant a lot, but I would’ve rather three points tonight and we’re going to go out and get that in New York and look forward to the playoffs.”

New England Revolution defender Jose Goncalves
On the frustration of remaining one point away from clinching a playoff berth:

“For us we knew that it was going to be a tough game, but we wanted to control the game like we always do at home. We don’t have many losses at home and tonight we started well, the first 20 minutes. I think the first half, the team showed that we have the ability to win, by having more possession and creating some chances, but I think the second half was not our best second half. I think they had one chance and from that chance, they took the opportunity and after, they sit down and defend.”

On the loss and what his side has to do to make it into the playoffs:

“I believe in my team and believe also in myself. That’s in the past. We struggled a couple of games, but it’s just one game and I think if we avoid those important mistakes, and we try to play good soccer, I’m pretty sure that we will score a lot of goals. But it starts with the basics, defend very well, and from there on, we can build.”

Montreal Impact head coach Mauro Biello
On Didier Drogba’s influence on the match despite a few minor knocks early in the game:

“Yeah, he got a couple of shots early on in the game. He’s not used to the surface but he worked extremely hard, not only offensively but defensively, he was helping back and you know they were switching roles out wide with him and Nacho (Piatti) to get a breather and it worked out well for us.”

On his club’s strategy heading into tonight’s game:

“Obviously, we wanted to stay compact. We didn’t want to give the key players space and time on the ball and I think they had a bit more of the ball than we did, but in the end we held on. They didn’t get in behind us. They had some shots from outside and we got that magical goal by Piatti.”

On how much the result in Orlando influenced his decision to play Didier Drogba tonight:

“No, Drogba was going to start the game from the beginning of the week. We prepared that way. It was never an issue, whether Orlando won or not. We were always focused on New England. For us, it was – things were in our hands. We had two games left and we wanted to have good performances and we were able to get one tonight with the win.”

On how difficult it is to keep New England’s key players from getting in behind the defense:

“Yeah, they’re a good team. Lee Nguyen is very good. The two wide players, Rowe and Fagundez and Jones – these are all players that are very good with combining one-twos. But in the end, we didn’t get them much space in behind. They had a bit of the ball in front of us but they struggled to have that depth that would make them even more dangerous. For us, it was important to stay compact and we grew from there and were able to get that goal.”

Montreal Impact forward Didier Drogba
On the result:

“This game, these three points means the playoffs for us, that’s all we’re going to remember tomorrow and then the next days that we are qualified for the playoffs. Knowing where we come from I think it’s a big achievement.”

On playing well despite the artificial surface:

“I don’t like playing on the turf too, but I think this occasion was one not to miss. I had to give everything. We got one week to recover. It’s very difficult to play on the turf. I understand why they didn’t play on it because it’s difficult. You don’t string the same way. You don’t run the same way. You don’t dribble the same way and when you’re old like me, almost 45 or 50 years old it’s very difficult. I had a few problems on my knees in the past and that’s the reason why this kind of pitch are not perfect for me but we deal with it. Today is today. Every game is important but this one was a little bit more which is normal, but Orlando I played as well.”

On playing in Major League Soccer so far:

“I love it. I love it.”

On possibly facing New England in the playoffs:

“It’s going to be very difficult.  We saw even when we won at home I think the result didn’t really describe the game we played. They are a tough team and you saw even today for us to score a goal was very difficult. They have a great manager, a great team, great players and I think they deserve to be in the playoffs as well.”

Montreal Impact midfielder Patrice Bernier
On clinching a playoff berth:

“It’s great. Great to be finally in the playoffs. We like to play with fire, the Impact. We managed it and there’s one game to go and we know that now we can play for higher stakes with a higher place in the standings.”

On hosting a playoff game:

“If everything goes well you can play three home games in a week. So, the objectives will be – we’re playing our arch-rival Toronto but it’s going to be for a higher stakes and it’s going to be already a playoff game, pretty much.”

On the tension in the game after the first half and how the game changed with Ignacio Piatti’s goal:

“Nacio is special. He’s one of those guys that maybe can have 89 minutes of not being somewhere and then one magical moment and he’s got great feet and he pulled it off today. Great goal. One zero and I think we’re a team we know that when we take the lead we’re very hard to beat. I think our stats show that when we take the lead we don’t really lose. But this was a big game to finally get that ticket for the playoffs and a good performance and now we have to play against Toronto and get the higher standings. I think it’s a relief, a bit, to know that now the playoffs is set compared to the other team where we had a gun to our head pretty much the whole time all the way up to even after the game where we played so it’s going to be special the following week.”

On the team comradery:

“Look, the team spirit on this team has been great and the addition of Didier (Drogba) has been fantastic. Like I’ve said, we knew there was pressure, we had to get this victory to get by and that was just a way to just relieve it because we’ve been playing in several games where we always thought this game is going to put us into the playoffs but it doesn’t and now mathematically it’s done. So it was a good relief and it just shows how the guys on this team are really together and willing to do something special.”