The Oakland Roots ended a six-match winless streak with one of their best performances of the season so far, a 3-1 win over Monterey Bay FC on a fog-drenched Saturday evening.
The Roots Create Most of the Chances in a Busy First Half
Oakland’s offense came out looking confident in front of a sellout crowd at Cardinale Stadium.
Lindo Mfeka put the ball in the net in the 3rd minute, but the goal was eventually waved off. Mfeka laid the ball off for Bryan Tamacas, who returned the ball to an unmarked Mfeka for the finish. But Oakland’s goal celebration was suddenly interrupted when Tamacas was judged to have been offside.
The Roots kept up the pressure in the 7th minute, when Napo Matsoso’s blast from 25 yards out was on target, forcing Monterey goalkeeper Antony Siaha to tap it over the crossbar for a corner.
Oakland’s efforts paid off in the 13th minute, when Memo Diaz sent in a perfect cross just as Jeciel Cedeño made his run through the Monterey backline. Siaha rushed out to the edge of the penalty area and tripped up Cedeño. On the subsequent penalty kick, Siaha guessed left and Rodriguez buried it in the right corner.
But Monterey’s Alex Dixon equalized against the run of play in the 29th minute. Morey Doner started the play by sprinting to track down the ball near the right corner flag. He sent the ball to Chase Boone just inside the penalty area. Boone mishit the ball, but Dixon tracked it down, took a couple of dribbles and blasted it into the upper right corner.
The Roots grabbed the lead for good in the 33rd minute on Rodriguez’s second goal of the match. The play began with a long ball out of the Roots’ defensive half. Cedeño chest trapped the ball, then poked it into the open space. Rodriguez tracked it down at the far edge of the penalty area, paused to make space between two Monterey defenders, and launched a shot that took a slight deflection off of Monterey’s Walmer Martínez and floated like a knuckleball into the net.
Monterey had another scoring opportunity in the 41st minute. Simon Dawkins led the break and fed the ball to Christian Volesky, but his shot went straight into goalkeeper Paul Blanchette’s arms.
Oakland’s Cedeño and Mfeka teamed up again to create another scoring chance less than 30 seconds later, but Cedeño’s curling shot from just inside the penalty area ricocheted off the crossbar.
Fewer Chances in the Second Half
The Roots earned a free kick just outside the area in the 48th minute; Mfeka’s curving shot sailed over the wall, but went wide.
Monterey’s best chance came in the 63rd minute. Volesky made a run down the sideline, but Cedeño made a sliding tackle as he attempted the cross. Blanchette’s attempted clearance went straight to an unmarked Dixon perched in front of the goal, but he mistimed his shot and it sailed into the stands.
Oakland put the game away on an intricate sequence of passes in the 77th minute. Cedeño sent the ball to Danny Gomez, who lobbed the ball into the path of Diaz at the back post. Diaz completed the play with a confident finish, then did a pair of backflips in celebration.
Monterey had a couple of chances late in the match. In the 85th minute. Dawkins’ blast from 20 yards out required a diving save from Blanchette.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Sam Gleadle’s shot from a difficult angle went wide.
Next Match
The Roots travel to El Paso to take on the Locomotive and former Roots’ goalkeeper Benny Diaz on Saturday. They return home to face the Las Vegas Lights on July 26.
