The Roots dominated the match from the opening whistle but struggled to score in their 1-0 win over New York Red Bulls II at Laney College on Saturday night.
Roots’ fans breathed a huge sigh of relief in the 76th minute, when Charlie Dennis sent a through ball that Edgardo Rito chased down. Rito took a shot from a difficult angle that beat New York goalkeeper Ioannis Nikopolidis and was redirected into the net by a sliding Óttar Magnús Karlsson for his 16th goal of the season.
Karlsson’s goal was enough to propel the Roots to victory, but they still needed help in the 83rd minute from goalkeeper Paul Blanchette, who made a great save on a blast from Jordan Adebayo-Smith from just outside the penalty area, fully extending his arms and diving to the turf to keep the ball out of the net.
“Just incredible,” Interim Head Coach Noah Delgado said. “You know, we needed that, they had tons of chances, but being awake in the 80 something minute, when people can be a bit relaxed, he came up with huge save.”
At first, it looked as if the Roots would have an easy time with Red Bulls II, who are in last place in the overall USL standings. The visitors’ starting eleven in Oakland averaged slightly over 20 years of age, with midfielder Nathan Worth the youngest, at age 15.
New York goalkeeper Ioannis Nikopolidis was forced to make several saves in the first 20 minutes, including shots from Darek Formella in the 3rd minute, Lindo Mfeka in the 8th minute, and Óttar Magnús Karlsson in the 11th minute.
But as the half went on, there were fewer chances for the Roots.
“I just think the boys were super hungry and excited and wanted to score quick,” Delgado said. “You know, I think maybe a couple plays, we could have made one more pass or taken a half a second longer on the finish, but I think it was more the boys just flying to go and I told them you know, relax a bit. You’re gonna get more chances. Just put them away.”
Mfeka had the best chance of the half in the 38th minute, when Rito made a run down the right side and fed it to Mfeka on the overlap. Mfeka dribbled the ball into the penalty area and fired a rocket that Nikopolidis could only redirect to one of his defenders, who blasted the ball into the stands.
Roots Regroup in the Second Half
After a scoreless first half, Delgado said he kept his halftime talk with the players simple.
“I just said, boys, breathe, relax, you guys are doing some good stuff,” he said. “I know you want it, everyone here in the stadium knows your desire, how much you want it. Relax, a little cleaner in the final third, be prepared for counterattacks on us or they’ll go forward, but relax and keep going.”
The Roots responded with an excellent chance in the 51st minute, when Karlsson received a pass from Rito, took a couple of dribbles and blasted a shot that hit the crossbar and out of play.
And somehow the Roots didn’t score in the 53rd minute on a beautiful buildup that saw Formella feed an overlapping Jose Hernandez, who fed it to Rito, who waited for Nikopolidis to commit, then led Karlsson for the finish into an open goal. But Red Bulls’ defender Matthew Nocita hurried back and made a sliding tackle to deflect the ball wide of the net and preserve the scoreless tie.
In the 69th minute, substitute Mikael Tørset Johnsen had a chance, but his curving shot settled in the side netting.
And that set the stage for Karlsson and Blanchette’s heroics which sealed the win for the Roots, who remain in a group of six teams that are competing for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference and are separated by only 4 points.
Overall, Delgado said he was happy with his team’s performance.
“You know, the boys wanted to get at it right away,” he said. “You could see their energy and desire tonight at the beginning and you know, they crept in the game and they got a little bit of hope and energy by us not scoring. So they built off that and towards the end we reorganized and then in the second half I thought we did all right.”
