Oakland Roots scoring drought continues in loss to San Diego Loyal

Oakland Roots scoring drought continues in loss to San Diego Loyal

Oakland Roots was chasing the San Diego Loyal for most of the game. (Photo: USL)

After scoring six goals in their first three games, the Oakland Roots have been unable to score now for three consecutive games.

San Diego controlled possession leaving the Roots players to chase the action for much of the game. The Loyal also dominated scoring chances outshooting Oakland 12-5.

In the first half, San Diego controlled two-thirds of the possession with nine shots compared to the Roots three.

San Diego had the first decent chance when a corner kick was directed on target by Tumi Moshobane forced a nice stop from Roots keeper Zeus de la Paz in the 9th minute.

Against the run of play, Oakland almost scored in the 11th minute. de la Paz booted a line drive goal kick down the field that forward Jeremy Bokila almost got onto. San Diego keeper Austin Guerrero was fast off his line and saved the initial ball. It then fell to Danny Flores, who attempted to chip the keeper from distance. However, his ball went well over the crossbar and into the stands.

From there, the Loyal had a long sustained amount of pressure on the Roots backline.

In the 21st minute, a cross found San Diego’s Corey Hertzog, whose point-blank shot was reflexively saved by de la Paz.

San Diego continued to control the game’s flow, but the Roots almost capitalized on a defensive miscue by the Loyal right before the break.

Bokila jumped on a weak back pass to the Loyal keeper and had a shot within the six-yard box that Guerrero blocked out of bounds.

In the second half, the Loyal kept up the pressure and were almost rewarded in the 55th minute.

Once again, de la Paz almost gave up a goal when a backpass to him was pressured by Hertzog. The San Diego striker stuck a foot out in front of de la Paz’s kick, almost deflecting his pass into the net.

Finally, San Diego’s pressure paid off in the 72nd minute when Miguel Berry made a penetrating run up the middle of the pitch that Roots defender Tarek Morad felt compelled to stop. His movement left Loyal substitute Miguel Ibarra alone at the top of the box. Berry passed to Ibarra, and he swiveled quickly and shot the ball past an outspread delaPaz for the well-deserved lead.

The Loyal fell back to protect the lead giving the Roots their first sustained amount of pressure on San Diego’s goal.

Oakland’s best chance to tie the game was in the extra time. Substitute defender Emrah Klimenta hit a well-struck blast from distance that was expertly saved by the Loyal goalkeeper.

With the Roots offense stuck in low gear, Oakland will now have eight days to figure out how to shore up their attack before their next game on Wednesday, July 7 against the Sacramento Republic.