The Oakland Roots and Memphis 901 FC battled for more than 90 minutes of end-to-end action and sometimes questionable refereeing on Wednesday night and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Roots were hoping to end a five-match winless streak, including consecutive losses to the RGV Toros and Tampa Bay Rowdies. While Memphis is currently in 4th place in the Eastern Conference, their previous two matches had been a 6-0 loss to Phoenix and a 4-0 loss to San Antonio.
“Crazy game, just a lot of back and forth,” Coach Noah Delgado said after the match. “I thought it was a game that was pretty organized and then opened to more of a transition game at the end. People pushing and going forward. We did as well.”
The Roots Dominate the First Half
Oakland got off to a quick start, nearly scoring in the 5th minute off of a set piece. A crowd of players gathered in the box for a free kick from near the right sideline, 20 yards from goal. Darek Formella attempted a side volley, but the ball trickled over to Danny Barbir, unmarked at the back post. Memphis goalkeeper Bill Hamid made the quick reaction save, but it didn’t matter because Oakland was judged to be offside.
Delgado gave Jeciel Cedeño his first start on the front line on Wednesday night, partnering with the Roots’ leading goal scorers, Formella and Johnny Rodriguez. The move paid off in the sixth minute, when Cedeño took a shot that Hamid could only deflect over the endline for a corner.
Rodriguez volleyed the ball into the net in the 10th minute, but once again, the linesman’s flag was up. Neveal Hackshaw’s long ball from the back found Memo Diaz at the edge of the penalty area. Diaz fed the ball to Rodriguez as he made his run at the far post.
Cedeño scored Oakland’s only goal of the game in the 33rd minute. He received a pass from Barbir near the right sideline, made a run along the goal line, and blasted a shot from a difficult angle that Hamid got a hand on, but could not deflect away.
“[Cedeño’s effort] been very good from the start,” Delgado said. “We know he could play that position. He can play on either side, play in the midfield to close it out. I thought it was a good performance by Cedeño. It was a good goal, it wasn’t an easy goal by any means.”
Second Half Stops and Starts
Two minutes into the second half, the referee stopped the match for six minutes to investigate an accusation that one of the Roots players had engaged in offensive taunting. He then allowed both teams to have a water break and the match continued. No players were booked.
The visitors evened the match in the 61st minute, when Jeremy Kelly deflected a through ball from Nighte Pickering into the path of Laurent Kissiedou. Hackshaw and Tarek Morad struggled to catch up, but Kissiedou’s blast bounced off of the hand of goalkeeper Paul Blanchette and into the roof of the net.
Memphis came close to taking the lead in the 68th minute on a free kick from just outside the box. Aaron Molloy’s shot curved over the wall and was headed for the far post, but Blanchette fully extended himself to deflect it away.
Cedeño had another endline run that was similar to his goal in the 77th minute, but Hamid was able to smother his shot attempt.
The Roots put the ball into the net one more time in the 87th minute. Anuar Peláez headed a corner kick straight down and it bounced off of Formella’s hand and into the goal.
Plenty of Action in Stoppage Time
Thanks in part to the delay early in the second half, more than 13 minutes of stoppage time were added.
Memphis came close again in the first minute of stoppage time. Malloy’s through ball put Kissiedou in a one-on-one situation with Blanchette, but Kissiedou mistimed his shot and it went wide of the target.
The visitors put the ball in the net again in the 7th minute of stoppage time, but it didn’t count. Rashawn Dally’s cross was perfectly placed for Dylan Borczak, but Borczak was caught offside.
The Gold Cup Contingent Returns to the Starting Lineup
Delgado said he was very happy to have Bryan Tamacas and Hackshaw back in the starting lineup after completing their national team duties at the Gold Cup.
“I think just getting players back has helped us out,” Delgado said. “Even if they’re defensive players it gives you more possession and a kind of comradery and understanding. I think that definitely helped us out.”
However, Hackshaw received a straight red card in the 9th minute of stoppage time, for what appeared to be a bit of pushing and shoving after a Memphis player went down with an injury.
“I didn’t see it,” Delgado said. “The referees next to me didn’t see it. It was kind of a melee with a whole bunch of people in between, but I don’t even know if the ref saw it, he was attending to the player. I have to watch it.”
The red card (and a likely suspension) make preparing the Roots’ lineup for Saturday’s match at Monterey Bay more difficult.
“You know, that’s just going to change some things,” Delgado said. “Especially after he rested in Tampa, after a hard Gold Cup. He was projected probably to start again this weekend. So now we’ve got to adjust again.”
