After squandering several chances to score in the first half, three defensive mistakes in the second half doomed the Oakland Roots to a 3-0 loss in front of a capacity crowd at Laney Stadium. Here are three things we learned from the game.
Roots need to convert their chances
Despite the final scoreline, the Oakland Roots could’ve easily had a positive result versus the division-leading Colorado Spring Switchbacks.
In the sixth minute, Dariusz Formella was sprung loose in the box by a pass from Charlie Dennis and ended up one-on-one with the keeper.
However, Switchback keeper Jeff Caldwell was able to deflect Formella’s point-blank shot out of bounds.
Oakland continued to control the possession, and in the 30th minute, José Hernández was taken down in the box and drew a penalty.
Óttar Karlsson stepped up to the spot and tried his now patented pause before taking the shot, trying to get the goalkeeper to guess one way or the other. Caldwell held his position, and Karlsson hit his pk right down the middle and smothered by the Colorado goalkeeper to keep the game scoreless.
Then in the 52nd minute, Edgardo Rito found himself with a point-blank shot in front of goal, but Caldwell came up big again.
“We need to make sure we capitalize on the chances we have,” lamented Roots head coach Juan Guerra after the game. “We’re creating enough chances to win games, but we’re just not putting it into the back of the net enough.”
Oakland’s defensive miscues costly
After not taking advantage of their multiple opportunities to score, the Roots’ defense melted down over the final thirty-five minutes of the game to allow the Switchback to score three times.
In the 57th minute, the Roots snuffed out a Colorado attack and cleared the ball out to the Switchbacks’ Beverly Makangila. He had time to pick out his teammate Zachary Zandi in the box, who hung behind center back Tarek Morad and was kept onside by fellow Roots defender Danny Barbir.
Zandi found himself alone on Roots keeper Benny Diaz and calmly converted for the 1-0 lead.
Fourteen minutes later, another defensive lapse allowed the visitors to score their second goal.
Colorado’s Hadji Barry was able to work up a head of steam and attack down the middle of the field. Just on top of the penalty box, he passed it out wide to Michee Ngalina, who was man-marked by Barbir. Ngalina danced in the box and forced Barbir to make a stab at the ball causing him to go off balance. It gave Ngalina enough space to blast his shot near-post at a tight angle past Diaz and into the net.
Then in the last minute of extra time, Colorado’s pressure forced Roots defender Alejandro Fuenmayor to make a square pass across the box that Switchbacks’ Hadji Barry ran onto and converted for the final 3-0 scoreline.
“We should never ever at home give three goals in 45 minutes ever. That should never happen again,” noted Guerra. “I’ll make sure we go in, watch the video, see what went wrong in order to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Unlike the A’s, Roots fans come out to support team
Even with a slow start to the season, the Oakland fans showed they are there to support the Roots. Wearing their Oakland flag-inspired green and yellow uniforms, 5,382 fans in attendance at Laney Stadium created a lively atmosphere and true home-field advantage.
It’s a completely different story than the neighbors, MLB’s Oakland A’s.
This year, the A’s have struggled to draw fans after repeatedly threatening to leave the Town if they don’t get a new stadium. Despite playing in a much smaller stadium, the Roots have outdrawn the Athletics in a handful of games this year.
That love and respect between the Roots and their supporters have significantly impacted Guerra.
“I respect this organization way too much. I love it. I can call this place home, and I’ve only been here four months,” he said. “It hurts to lose at home, and we work every day in order to make sure we can be a top team in the league and in order to get results to give this organization what it deserves.”
