The Oakland Roots outshot Atlanta United 2 by a margin of 29-5 on Saturday night, but it took second half heroics from Mikael Tørset Johnsen to help them earn a 3-1 victory.
“I think he was one of the best players on the pitch tonight,” Head Coach Juan Guerra said about Johnsen after the match. “It’s good for him to have this kind of night, because it builds confidence, it builds confidence individually for him, and also the collective of the squad.”
The scoreless first half was a study in frustration for the home side, with most of the club’s key attacking players getting chances that they were unable to convert.
In the third minute, Charlie Dennis found an opening, but his shot wasn’t on target.
In the 11th minute, Johnsen’s shot from the left side of the box beat goalkeeper Justin Garces, but was but an Atlanta defender recovered quickly and cleared it off the line.
In the 13th minute, Joseph Nane’s header sailed over the crossbar.
In the 29th minute, Memo Diaz fed Óttar Magnus Karlsson for a header from close range, but his shot went wide.
One minute later, Diaz blasted a shot from the edge of the 6-yard box that was headed in at the near post, but Garces was able to get a hand on it and deflect it over the endline.
Diaz was one of the Roots’ best players in the match, sending in accurate crosses that led to several scoring opportunities. After the match, he talked about the adjustments he’s had to make with this year’s team.
“It’s more of a attacking-minded team and I think we’ve shown that with the goals compared to to last year,” Diaz said. “I’m more of a natural fullback, but I’m getting into it and obviously learning from Rito and Azocar and the way they attack.”
The Roots’ Offense Finally Breaks Through
The long-awaited first goal came in the 49th minute, when Diaz’s cross from the right side found Johnsen at the far post for a diving header that Garces couldn’t reach. The goal was Johnsen’s first since joining the club on loan from Venezia F.C.
But Atlanta struck back in the 60th minute, on one of their few chances in the match. Darwin Matheus dribbled past several Roots defenders and found Tristan Trager unmarked (and perhaps in an offside position). Trager trapped the ball with his chest and set himself up for the lethal left-footed finish.
“When (the goal) came, obviously, my first thought was ‘okay, let’s try to keep the boys mentally under control,’” Guerra said. “So they understand that we’re playing well, we’re creating chances now. We don’t have to change a million things. Let’s make sure we keep pushing. Let’s make sure we keep doing the things that we’ve been doing, because it worked.”
The Roots grabbed the lead for good in the 73rd minute, when Johnsen got behind two Atlanta defenders and made his run into the box. Atlanta’s Grant Howard clipped him from behind as Johnsen went down and the referee signaled for a penalty kick. Howard was also yellow carded for dissent.
Karlsson converted the penalty with a low, hard shot just inside the right post. Garces guessed correctly, but was unable to get his hand on the shot.
Oakland substitute Johnny Rodriguez put the match away for the home side in the 87th minute, stealing a weak backpass from Nelson Chukwuma and slamming it past Garces.
And the Roots breathed a sigh of relief after earning their first victory since June 4. Guerra praised his team’s performance.
“The boys put in a very good shift tonight,” he said. “I believe we could have probably put the game away earlier and these are things that we need to keep improving pushing forward. But it was a really good game. I saw a lot of the things that we worked on doing the week being executed on the field and as a coach that that’s all I can ask for.”
