The Oakland Roots look determined not to start year three in the USL Championship like their previous two seasons.
In 2021 and 2022, the Roots had to fight back from anemic league starts and climb from the bottom of the table into the playoffs at the end of the season. After defeating Indy Eleven 3-0 on the road Saturday evening, Oakland already finds themselves four points above the final playoff spot with a game in hand over most USL squads after five games.
FIRST HALF
All night, the Roots soaked up Indy Eleven’s pressure and struck when the home side made mistakes.
Oakland scored first in the 43rd minute.
Dariusz Formella recovered a ball in the midfield, took a quick look, and lofted a juicy pass to Lindo Mfekea, who made an incisive, perfectly timed run that found himself behind the Indy defense.
Eleven goalie Yannik Oettl aggressively left his box to try and intercept the pass, but Mfekea was able to head it around the onrushing keeper, leaving him with the simplest of tap-ins to help the Roots take the lead.
SECOND HALF
In the 71st minute, some high pressure by the Roots led to another Indy Eleven mistake and a 2-0 lead.
Substitute forward Johnny Rodriguez pressured Indy left-back Jesús Vázquez to turn the ball over in the box to Mfeka. His shot was initially saved by Oettl but bounced perfectly to Formella, who blasted the shot into the net.
Indy almost got one back a minute later when Adrian Diz Pe blasted a close-up shot on target. However, Roots keeper Paul Blanchette was able to save the attempt and quickly corral the follow-up shot.
With Indy Eleven pressuring even higher, the Roots finished the game with another well-timed pass over the top of the defense, this time from veteran midfielder Joseph Nane.
Nane lofted his long pass to a steaming Edgardo Rito, who was able to rush past the flatfooted Indy Eleven defenders and calmly finish his one-on-one opportunity.
Next up for the Roots for a home match against another USL Eastern conference team, Hartford Athletic, on Saturday, April 15. With the turf issues at Laney, it isn’t clear whether the game will be played there or at another facility.
