At the start of the postgame press conference, Oakland Roots head coach Jordan Ferrell warned he might be short tonight. He had a good reason to be upset.
Despite being up a man for the final seventeen minutes, the Roots conceded a goal in the 89th minute from Las Vegas forward Chinenye Uche and drew the Lights 2-2.
“We gave away two points, for sure,” said Ferrell. “I don’t know if it was the confidence of being up eleven versus ten, but it certainly was overconfidence, and that killed us.”
It was a costly goal for the Roots. Oakland fell to sixth in the USL Pacific Division with the tie, a point behind Los Angeles Galaxy and the Sacramento Republic.
Three goals in Opening Half Hour
The game came to life early with the Lights, who were on a ten-game losing streak, striking first.
In the fifth minute, Las Vegas forward Julian Vázquez was able to run in unmarked on goal and fired a pass across the mouth of the goal that teammate Danny Trejo tapped in for the 1-0 lead.
Oakland responded with sustained pressure on the Vegas defense and was awarded a golden opportunity in the 16th minute. Roots winger Memo Diaz was loudly fouled in the penalty box by Mohamed Traore who earned a yellow card in the process.
Quincy Amarikwa stepped up to the spot, but his penalty kick shot was close to Vegas keeper Alex Rando, who easily stopped the ball.
Amarikawa made amends when he got his head onto a Lindo Mfeka cross and tied the game up in the 24th minute.
Another dangerous Mfeka cross gave the Roots the lead in the 29th minute when Vegas defender Antonio Leone mistakenly headed the ball into his own net.
The Lights had an opportunity to tie shortly before the break, but Roots keeper Paul Blanchette stuffed a breakaway shot by Cal Jennings.
Roots fail to convert in the second half
In the second half, the game settled down, with the Roots controlling the majority of the possession but not finishing their opportunities.
Substitute Johnny Rodriguez got free in the box in the 69th minute, but his shot hit off the back post and bounced off Amarikawa, who was called offsides.
For the game, the Roots had fourteen shots, with only four on target.
Red card changes game
The Roots appeared to have the three points in hand when Las Vegas defender Mohamed Traore earned his second yellow card for the night, elbowing Memo Diaz in the head. Despite being down a man, the Lights had better scoring opportunities in the final quarter-hour.
In the 89th minute, Antonio Leone lofted a pass in the box to teammate Chinenye Uche. His shot from a tight angle tied the game and led to a wild celebration with his teammates.
Sacramento Republic up next for Roots
For the second game in a row, Oakland coughed up points in the final minutes of a game. Instead of being securely in fourth place with a three-point lead over Los Angeles and Sacramento, Oakland is looking up the table from sixth place and a must-win match next Wednesday night at Laney College against the Republic.
“We focus on Sac. There’s no looking at the table for how we feel,” said Ferrell. “For us, it’s about coming back and sealing the deal against Sac and see out a ninety-minute performance. There is nothing else we are looking at.”
