The Sacramento Republic showed no signs of a U.S. Open Cup hangover in the first half, but the Oakland Roots fought back to earn a 1-1 draw in Oakland on Saturday night.
Sacramento made five lineup changes from its midweek victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in the U.S. Open Cup. The infusion of fresh players enabled them to establish a quick pace early in the match that left Oakland vulnerable.
The Roots did have two good chances early. In the 11th minute, Óttar Magnús Karlsson’s low header from a Mikael Tørset Johnsen cross forced goalkeeper Danny Vitiello to make a diving save.
Former Republic striker Dariusz Formella nearly scored in the 26th minute as his shot from the left edge of the box clanked off of the post.
But Oakland has shown a vulnerability to set pieces in previous matches, so it was no surprise that Sacramento opened the scoring on a corner kick in the 42nd minute. Luis Felipe established position in a group of Roots defenders parked in front of the goal and was able to poke the ball past a diving Paul Blanchette, who was making his first competitive appearance since last November’s second round playoff match.
“I’m so proud of Paul,” Head Coach Juan Guerra said after the match. “It wasn’t easy. Paul’s just coming back from COVID. He was out for a week and a half. He didn’t train a lot this week. And he was thrown into one of the toughest games we play this year.”
The Roots looked much stronger in the second half. Guerra said he made a tactical shift to a 4-4-2 formation.
“We were down a goal and we had to shift,” Guerra said. “We wanted to be a bit more aggressive and add numbers to a side of the field. And obviously we were vulnerable on defense. We attacked with a lot of numbers and they were able to transition very quickly and there was danger.”
Blanchette made his best save of the match in the 48th minute, stretching to deflect a shot by Luther Archimède out of danger.
But as the match went on, the Roots began to take control.
Oakland earned the game tying penalty in the 79th minute, when Vitiello collided with Lindo Mfeka just outside the 6-yard-box. Karlsson converted it with a low shot that bounced twice on the turf before settling inside the right post, just out of Vitiello’s reach.
Things got very physical late in the match, with Johnsen and Sacramento’s Maalique Foster earning yellow cards. But Oakland pressed forward, looking for the game-winner, including shots from Johnsen and Formella in stoppage time.
“We faced a very good rival tonight,” Guerra said. “We did a lot of things well, but we need to keep improving. I don’t feel like we gained a point tonight, I felt like we left two points on the table.”
