18 year old Project 51O goalkeeper Timothy Syrel helped Oakland Roots blank LA Galaxy II 1-0 in a thrilling match that went down to the wire Saturday night at Laney Stadium in Oakland.
Syrel was called up to Roots on Friday as an emergency signing after an injury to Oakland netminder Paul Blanchette left Roots with only one goalkeeper, and made his USL Championship debut when called into action after a red card was issued to starting goalkeeper Benny Diaz in the 69th minute. Despite facing an extra attacker and a desperate Galaxy side, Syrel kept Los Angeles off the board through to the final whistle.
Roots played an excellent first half, owning time of possession and staying aggressive on the attack leading to five corner kicks in the first 11 minutes, one of which led to a shot that rang off the crossbar. The intense pressure applied by Oakland frustrated the Galaxy leading to three first half yellow cards, the third of which earned Roots a penalty kick in the 37th minute.
Óttar Magnús Karlsson made no mistake from the spot, rattling home his league leading 7th goal for Oakland this season – a goal which stood the test of time and carried Roots to their second victory of the year in a reversal of fortunes after playing to draws in three of their last four matches.
Roots return to Laney Stadium next Saturday May 28th against Sacramento Republic FC and face a quick turnaround playing at home again the following Wednesday June 1st vs. Orange County.
Talking to Head Coach Juan Guerra
It was a big way for the 18 year old to come onto the pitch, describe his impact, and just your thoughts on him?
Juan Guerra: I’m so proud of him, just the way he behaves himself when he showed up to training the other day when we needed it, and he’s done everything right. And today, as soon as, or even before the referee blew the whistle, I turned around, and I knew he was gonna have to go in. We looked at him in the eyes, Peter, the goalkeeper, coach, talked to him and explained to him what we expected. And he stepped up and he did whatever was necessary for us to keep the zero. So I’m very happy for him. I think he deserves it. And now we just have to keep pushing. I think at the end of the day, it was an overall collective effort. That led to a good result tonight. So now we have to keep pushing.
High pressure at the end there. What was your message when the red card occurred?
Juan Guerra: Just to focusand to keep the intensity to be more aggressive in defensive bases, but at the same time to keep playing. Because we’re a team that wants the ball. And when we don’t have the ball, we feel uncomfortable. And to have the ball with 10 Men, it’s a bit more difficult, but it’s not impossible. So that was the message that we’re trying to send to the guys is to try to keep the ball as much as we can to try to progress the field together. So when we lose possession of the ball, we can press right away. And we didn’t have to make too much of a transitional game. Because it was going to be a very, very tough 25 or 30 minutes with them.
Like you just mentioned, kind of describe how the system progressed from the first half, and then into the second and so on.
Juan Guerra: We started strong, we created some chances in the game, we had the opportunity to probably put one or two away before the penalty. But again, we keep doing a lot of things properly and a lot of things right. Offensively, and defensively, we got a lot better today. The most important thing for me and the staff and the players was the key vision. And that’s one of the main things that I asked him for the game. I said, Guys, I’m gonna ask for one thing, and that’s the key for zero tonight. I know offensively what we can do. And I think all the other teams, know that as well. Now we have to make sure that the things that we’re doing well, we keep pushing, we get stronger, and the things that need fixing, and then need improvement. We have to work and have the awareness and be humble enough to understand where we’re making mistakes, and get better at those. Defending is a collective effort that starts with a striker, and it finishes with a goalkeeper. And that’s what the guys showed tonight. We’re a pressing team when we have to press them with a high press and reward block, or defensive goal was very organized, but yet it was still intense and aggressive, which is what we wanted. And then everybody saw what the team did with 10 men, the effort, the intensity, how much the guys wanted it, and this is how much it means to them. So it was a huge step forward for us tonight to be able to get the three points. And now we just have to focus on the next thing.
Oakland Roots SC vs LA Galaxy II
USL Championship | May 21, 2022
Venue: Laney College, Oakland, California
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT
Weather: 70 degrees, clear
SCORELINE:
OAK: 1
LA: 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: 37’ Óttar Magnús Karlsson (PK)
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
LA: 28’ Mike Salazar (yellow card)
LA: 32’ Preston Judd (yellow card)
LA: 35’ Felipe Cobian (yellow card)
LA: 61’ Taylor Danila (yellow card)
OAK: 63’ José Hernández (yellow card)
OAK: 68’ Benny Diaz (red card)
OAK: 90+ 5’ Edgardo Rito (yellow card)
LA: 90+ 5’ Liam Doyle (yellow card)
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Benny Diaz (Timothy Syrel), Tarek Morad, Emrah Klimenta, Danny Barbir, Juan Azocar, Edgardo Rito, Mikael Johnsen, José Hernández, Dariusz Formella, Charlie Dennis, Óttar Magnús Karlsson
Unused subs: Memo Diaz, Alejandro Fuenmayor, Matias Fissore, Johnny Rodriguez, Lindo Mfeka, Jesús Enríquez
Shots: 13 | Shots On Goal: 4 | Corner Kicks: 8 | Fouls: 15 | Offside: 1 |
LA GALAXY II LINEUP:Eric Copez, Felipe Cobian (Chandler Vaughn), Liam Doyle, Jalen Neal, Owen Lambe, Cam Dunbar, Dante Campbell(Taylor Danla), Hamza Barry (Remi Cabrai), Adrian Gonzalez, Preston Judd, Mike Salazar (Duhaney Williams)
Unused subs: Rich Sanchez, Marcus Ferkranus, Axel Picazo
Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 1 | Fouls: 9 | Offside: 2 |
