A pair of quick strikes in the second half by Johnny Rodriguez and Trayvone Reid powered the Oakland Roots past Loudon United FC by a score of 3-1 at Pioneer Stadium in Hayward on Saturday night.
This is only the second time this season that the Roots have won a match by a margin of more than one goal. The first was on June 29, a 2-0 win at Orange County.
Gagi Margvelashvili was the man of the match for Oakland, earning assists on two of the home side’s goals.
First Half
There were few chances for either side in the first half. Oakland got on the scoreboard first in the 24th minute, when Gagi took a shot from the edge of the 6-yard box that beat Loudon goalkeeper Hugo Fauroux and was on its way into the net. Loudon defender Keegan Hughes and Oakland’ Baboucarr Njie both made sliding tackle attempts, but Njie was one step ahead, and able to nudge the ball over the goal line.
Loudon nearly scored in the 37th minute, when Florian Valot took a shot from just beyond the penalty arc. Oakland goalkeeper Tim Syrel made the save, but couldn’t hold on to the rebound. Zach Ryan had a shot at the open net, with only Neveal Hackshaw guarding it, but Ryan blasted his shot over the crossbar.
Second Half
Loudon equalized in the 54th minute, thanks to a sudden strike by Kalil Elmedkhar. A throw-in came to Valot, who booted the ball into the air. Elmedkhar made his run into the box and his low header scooted in under Syrel’s outstretched hand.
But Oakland was ready with a sudden strike of their own 8 minutes later. Memo Diaz sent a long ball from the Roots’ half that found Johnny Rodriguez in a one-on-one with Loudon’s Jacob Erlandson. Rodriguez chest trapped the ball, took a couple of steps, and flicked it past Fauroux.
After the match, Roots Interim Head Coach Gavin Glinton was asked about the close relationship between Rodriguez and Diaz.
“They share the same brain,” Glinton said. “It’s intrinsic, they train together. They hit probably 50 crosses after every training together. They don’t have to talk, it’s a half second quicker than anybody else. You see it over and over and you saw it again tonight.”
Another sudden strike put the match away for Oakland in the 82nd minute. Gagi made a run across midfield and sent a pass in to Trayvone Reid as he made his run down the right side. Reid crossed the ball over to his right foot and blasted a shot from a tight angle that beat Faurox.
Oakland nearly had a fourth goal in the 85th minute, when Reid dribbled the ball nearly the length of the field, but his shot went straight into Faurox’s arms.
Syrel’s best save of the match came in the 90th minute, when he got his hand on a shot by Tommy Williamson and was able to deflect it over the end line.
Oakland Bryan Tamacas had a chance in second half stoppage time, but Faurox showed no fear in getting in the way of his shot from point blank range.
“So happy with the performance,” Glinton said. “I thought that the guys executed the game plan fantastically. I thought we did a great job making a very good team look not very great tonight. We got some goals on the end, we were aggressive and we finished the plays off. Couldn’t be happier with the effort and the result.”
The visitors had 64.3% of the possession, but Oakland had the majority of the chances.
“We knew that they would have the ball, but we were a little bit higher on the front foot and I think we did a great job winning balls in the attacking half all night long, for the most part dispossessing them,” Glinton said. “They can play, so there would be minutes where we had to suffer. I thought we pulled off the game plan pretty well, because we knew there’d be moments where we wouldn’t have it tonight, for sure.”
With the win, Oakland has 4 wins and a draw in 5 home matches vs. Eastern Conference opposition this season. The Roots host one more interconference game, vs. Birmingham on October 26.
