Las Vegas looked to equalize late, but Roots weathered the storm, defeating visiting Las Vegas Lights FC by a final score of 1-0 at Pioneer Stadium in the East Bay on Wednesday night.
Oakland looked comfortable in the first frame of the match, pressing into Las Vegas territory on multiple occasions thanks to quality runs and quality passing to match.
Roots nearly opened the scoring at the 13’ mark on a rocket off the foot of Johnny Rodriguez but a Las Vegas defender made an acrobatic play to head the ball away from danger.
Scoring chances continued to come for Oakland, including on a play where the ball looked to ricochet off of the arms of a Lights defender in the penalty area. Roots players pleaded to the official but no whistle was blown and play continued.
Las Vegas found a few openings later in the half, but Roots stood firm in the back half and sealed any potential cracks before they could be turned into true scoring chances, and entered halftime looking like the better team despite the match remaining scoreless.
The Lights looked stronger coming into the second half, attacking with more success and earning a few solid scoring chances.
But it was Oakland who struck first on the scoreboard when Bryan Tamacas threaded the needle with a perfect pass splitting two Las Vegas defenders to find Anuar Pelaez who tapped it home in the 76th minute putting Roots ahead 1-0.
Las Vegas mustered everything they could for the final stretch of the contest, applying pressure to the very end and even finding the back of the net in the waning moments of stoppage time, a play that was negated by an offside flag.
Oakland are now winners of three straight games, and look to continue their good fortunes when they return home to Pioneer Stadium in just a few days on Saturday July 29th to host visiting Detroit City FC at 7:00 PM PT.
Speaking with Head Coach Noah Delgado
Impressions on the game?
I thought we were okay, you know it’s a tricky game, Vegas. I told the boys they have some good stuff going forward. We felt we made errors in some areas, but overall just a tricky, tricky game. I thought we were just okay, but proud of the boys for pulling it out late.
Big moment for Anuar Pelaez getting the goal – talk about that.
Oh it’s good, we played a tough game in El Paso, we traveled, you know didn’t make too many changes to the lineup, put Pelaez in a little bit earlier than last game. What a ball in behind. We always harp on running in behind and penetrating – He ran in behind them. Great finish, great goal.
Oakland Roots SC vs Las Vegas Lights FC
USL Championship | July 26, 2023
Venue: Cal State University East Bay, Hayward, California
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT
Weather: 64 degrees, partly cloudy
SCORELINE:
OAK: 1
LV: 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: 76’ Anuar Peláez
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
LV: 27’ Luke Stauffer (yellow card)
OAK: 29’ Neveal Hackshaw (yellow card)
OAK: 43’ Danny Barbir (yellow card)
OAK: 45’+ Johnny Rodriguez (yellow card)
LV: 46’ André Zulaga-Silva (yellow card)
OAK: 90’+ Lindo Mfeka (yellow card)
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Paul Blanchette, Danny Barbir, Neveal Hackshaw, Emrah Klimenta, Memo Diaz (Wolfgang Prentice), Napo Matsoso (Joseph Nane), Daniel Gomez, Bryan Tamacas, Trayvone Reid (Lindo Mfeka), Johnny Rodriguez (Anuar Peláez), Jeciel Cedeño.
Unused subs: Tarek Morad, Ryan Her, Taylor Bailey.
Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 4 | Corner Kicks: 3 | Fouls: 12 | Offside: 2 |
LAS VEGAS LIGHTS FC LINEUP: Alan Diaz, Luke Stauffer, Marcello Lage (Azriel Gonzalez), Tyler Bagley, Timothie Zali, Issa Rayyan (Preston Tabort Etaka), Daniel Rios (Jacob Bushue), Eric Oteng, Andrés Jimenez (Justin Ingram), Andrew Carleton, Josh Dolling
Unused subs: André Zulaga-Silva, Zach Carrol, Alejandro Mitrano
Shots: 14 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 7 | Fouls: 17 | Offside: 3 |
