Oakland Roots faced off against Phoenix Rising FC for the third time this season in a Wednesday night tilt at Las Positas College in Livermore California. The majority of the first half was split evenly in possession with no fouls being committed by either side. It looked as if the teams were going into halftime level until Wal Fall scored off a beautiful strike into the upper 90 off the layoff from Chuy Enriquez.
Roots looked to keep that momentum going in the second half with a second-chance goal from Jose Hernandez in the 51st minute off a ball that was initially blocked by a Phoenix defender to put Roots up 2-1. Phoenix quickly countered with a goal from Darnell King a minute later that briefly quieted the crowd. Less than ten minutes later, Ariel Mbumba would find the back of the net off another poorly cleared ball by Phoenix to put Roots back up by two goals. From there the focus was on defense as Roots looked to control the possession to shut the game down.
The victory brings the unbeaten run to five games and moves Roots ahead of Las Vegas Lights FC in the Pacific Division on goal differential. Roots look to continue this run on Saturday, (8/28) as they make their return to Laney College to play host to Tacoma Defiance.
Oakland Roots faced off against Phoenix Rising FC for the third time this season in a Wednesday night tilt at Las Positas College in Livermore California. The majority of the first half was split evenly in possession with no fouls being committed by either side. It looked as if the teams were going into halftime level until Wal Fall scored off a beautiful strike into the upper 90 off the layoff from Chuy Enriquez.
Roots looked to keep that momentum going in the second half with a second-chance goal from Jose Hernandez in the 51st minute off a ball that was initially blocked by a Phoenix defender to put Roots up 2-1. Phoenix quickly countered with a goal from Darnell King a minute later that briefly quieted the crowd. Less than ten minutes later, Ariel Mbumba would find the back of the net off another poorly cleared ball by Phoenix to put Roots back up by two goals. From there the focus was on defense as Roots looked to control the possession to shut the game down.
The victory brings the unbeaten run to five games and moves Roots ahead of Las Vegas Lights FC in the Pacific Division on goal differential. Roots look to continue this run on Saturday, (8/28) as they make their return to Laney College to play host to Tacoma Defiance.
Head Coach Jordan Ferrell:
Initial thoughts on the game?
They’re the leaders in the conference and a really strong team. Maybe they took us a little lightly with the starting lineup they rolled out against us, but good for us right? We wanted to keep everything rolling returning home. This was one of the rescheduled games from earlier in the season so it’s good to take three points.
Talk about the attacking trio tonight:
Yeah it took us a little bit to get going, after about 15 minutes after we settled in, we started getting some good balls across the goal and that started getting the juices flowing. Getting that goal to close the half made a big difference psychologically for the team.
You get the second goal, and they quickly counter but you don’t panic and end up getting that third goal. Take us through that:
It was huge for Mbumba, I was barking at him all game. It’s a tough match playing against Phoenix and how strong they are in all aspects of their game. For him to get the reward of the goal, that’s really big. Big credit to the guys to really snap in and say hey, we’re not giving this up.
Oakland Roots SC vs Phoenix Rising
USL Championship | August 25, 2021
Venue: Las Positas College, Livermore, CA
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PST
Weather: 81 degrees
SCORELINE: 1 2 FT
OAK: 1 2 3
PHX: 0 1 1
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: Wal Fall 44’
OAK: Jose Hernandez 51’
PHX: Darnell King 52’
OAK: Ariel Mbumba 61’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
PHX: Jon Bakero (Yellow 45’)
PHX: Darnell King (Yellow 70’)
OAK: Jose Hernandez (Yellow 71’)
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP:
Ariel Mbumba (Johnny Rodriguez 62’), Max Ornstil, Wal Fall, Matias Fissore, Jeremy Bokila (Soya Takahashi 86’), Jesus Enriquez (Kai Greene 86’), Akeem O’Connor-Ward, Jose Hernandez (Lindo Mfeka 74’), Paul Blanchette, Emrah Klimenta, Memo Diaz
Unused subs: Joseph Restani, Brandon Allen, Taylor Bailey
Shots: 14 | Shots On Goal: 7 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 14 | Offside: 3 |
PHOENIX RISING FC LINEUP:
Ben Lundt, Darnell King, Manuel Madrid, Tate Schmitt, Ryan Flood (Joseph Farrell 86’), James Musa, Joseph Calistri (Aodhan Quinn 62’), Jon Bakero (Kevon Lambert 62’), Prince Saydee (Santi Moar 62’), David Egbo, Ivan Gutierrez (Arturo Rodriguez 62’)
Unused subs: Andre Rawls, Darren Mattocks
Shots: 19 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 8 | Fouls: 14 | Offside: 0 |
Head Coach Jordan Ferrell:
Initial thoughts on the game?
They’re the leaders in the conference and a really strong team. Maybe they took us a little lightly with the starting lineup they rolled out against us, but good for us right? We wanted to keep everything rolling returning home. This was one of the rescheduled games from earlier in the season so it’s good to take three points.
Talk about the attacking trio tonight:
Yeah it took us a little bit to get going, after about 15 minutes after we settled in, we started getting some good balls across the goal and that started getting the juices flowing. Getting that goal to close the half made a big difference psychologically for the team.
You get the second goal, and they quickly counter but you don’t panic and end up getting that third goal. Take us through that:
It was huge for Mbumba, I was barking at him all game. It’s a tough match playing against Phoenix and how strong they are in all aspects of their game. For him to get the reward of the goal, that’s really big. Big credit to the guys to really snap in and say hey, we’re not giving this up.
Oakland Roots SC vs Phoenix Rising
USL Championship | August 25, 2021
Venue: Las Positas College, Livermore, CA
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PST
Weather: 81 degrees
SCORELINE: 1 2 FT
OAK: 1 2 3
PHX: 0 1 1
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: Wal Fall 44’
OAK: Jose Hernandez 51’
PHX: Darnell King 52’
OAK: Ariel Mbumba 61’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
PHX: Jon Bakero (Yellow 45’)
PHX: Darnell King (Yellow 70’)
OAK: Jose Hernandez (Yellow 71’)
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP:
Ariel Mbumba (Johnny Rodriguez 62’), Max Ornstil, Wal Fall, Matias Fissore, Jeremy Bokila (Soya Takahashi 86’), Jesus Enriquez (Kai Greene 86’), Akeem O’Connor-Ward, Jose Hernandez (Lindo Mfeka 74’), Paul Blanchette, Emrah Klimenta, Memo Diaz
Unused subs: Joseph Restani, Brandon Allen, Taylor Bailey
Shots: 14 | Shots On Goal: 7 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 14 | Offside: 3 |
PHOENIX RISING FC LINEUP:
Ben Lundt, Darnell King, Manuel Madrid, Tate Schmitt, Ryan Flood (Joseph Farrell 86’), James Musa, Joseph Calistri (Aodhan Quinn 62’), Jon Bakero (Kevon Lambert 62’), Prince Saydee (Santi Moar 62’), David Egbo, Ivan Gutierrez (Arturo Rodriguez 62’)
Unused subs: Andre Rawls, Darren Mattocks
Shots: 19 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 8 | Fouls: 14 | Offside: 0 |
