On a chilly Saturday night at Laney College, the Roots lost to its new Norcal rival, Monterey Bay F.C., 3-2. It was the Roots’ first home game of the season after dropping its first two road matches.
Monterey struck first in the 8th minute when striker Seku Conneh held the ball up well in the Roots box and teed it up to Chase Boone who buried the finish. Oakland recovered well though, resilient in defense and creating a couple excellent opportunities from set pieces. Shortly before halftime, Ottar Magnus Karlsson won a penalty just inside the Monterey box. The Icelandic, on loan from Serie A side Venezia, did a cheeky stutter step before dispatching the penalty with gusto and the first half ended a goal apiece.
Just four minutes after the start of the second half the Roots broke the deadlock. A long ball out to wideman Edgardo Rito caught Monterey out and the Venezuelan found Karlsson at the near post with a well-placed pass. Karlsson, for his second of the game, swept the ball neatly into the corner. Roots 2, Monterey 1.
Monterey equalized in the 68th minute from a corner; it was Boone again on the scoresheet who stabbed home a loose ball in the box. The next twenty minutes saw both teams seek a winner as the game swung from one half to the other, though Oakland had the better chances.
In the 90’ minute Monterey found the winner on a freekick that was headed back across the goal from the far post. Center back Hugh Roberts nodded it home, dealing the Roots its third consecutive loss of the season.
The Roots will look for their first positive result of the season when they travel to play New Mexico United on Wednesday night.
Hearing from Head Coach Juan Guerra:
Initial takeaways?
This one hurts a lot because I didn’t think…we wanted to give back to our city, organization, fans and even players. It was going well and we need to keep those moments for longer periods of time. The guys fought back and were resilient while playing well. In the second half, we start well again but we slowed down a bit. We need to make sure we can keep the momentum and intensity for the whole game. Our ideas and vision aren’t changing…it’s a long race. It’s probably going to take longer than we were expecting but I have no doubt that it’s going to come.
Two goals conceded from set pieces, what do you have to say to that?
I talked about it during the week. This team can hurt us. The first one was a long ball to the big striker, the second one was a set piece. These are things we have to keep working on and keep the levels of concentration way higher for longer periods of time.
Some positive things to take away from today?
The way we moved the ball, the way we broke through lines, floated in pockets and kept the ball in their half a lot. There were a lot of positives. We created a lot of opportunities. We have to get better and we will. This one hurts a lot. I guarantee you that the boys are strong, focused and they’re going to fight back.
Oakland Roots SC vs Monterey Bay FC
USL Championship | March 26, 2022
Venue: Laney College, Oakland, California
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT
Weather: 58 degrees, partly cloudy
Attendance: 5,508
SCORELINE:
OAK: 2
MB: 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
MB: 8’ Boone
OAK: 39’ Karlsson
OAK: 49’ Karlsson
MB: 68’ Boone
MB: 90’ Roberts
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
OAK:
MB: 56’, #12 Grant Robinson (yellow), 90’, #17 Arun Basuljevic (yellow), 90’, #6 James Murphy
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Benny Diaz, Edgardo Rito, Tarek Morad, Danny Barbir, Juan Azocar, Jose Hernandez, Matias Fissore, Charlie Dennis, Lindo Mfeka, Ottar Magnus Karlsson, Darek Formella.
Subs: Memo Diaz, Max Ornstil, Jesus Enriquez, Taylor Bailey, Emrah Klimenta, Joseph Nane, Johnny Rodriguez
MONTEREY BAY FC LINEUP: Rafael Diaz, Hugh Roberts, Morey Doner, Grant Robinson, Kay Greene, James Murphy, Arun Basuljevic, Sam Gleadle, Chase Boone, Walker Martinez, Seku Conneh.
Subs: Dallas Jaye, Sam Strong, Jiro Toyama Barriga, Adrian Rebollar, Christian Volesky, Chris Cortez, Simon Dawkins
