Roots built a lead in what was a nearly perfect first half for the club, but visiting San Antonio FC clawed their way back into the match in the second as Oakland played to a 2-2 draw on Saturday night in the East Bay.
Oakland looked strong from the first whistle, controlling possession and playing the first few minutes of the contest entirely in San Antonio’s defensive end.
This pressure paid off for Roots promptly as Johnny Rodriguez found the back of the net in the tenth minute to put his team on the board and his name in the Oakland history books. His 19th goal for Roots, an acrobatic highlight reel strike from inside the box, tied the club’s all-time record for goals scored.
But the boys in black weren’t finished yet. Just one minute later, Oakland doubled their lead courtesy of a rocket off the foot of Anuar Peláez igniting the raucous home crowd.
After going down two goals in the early portion of the game, San Antonio turned up the pressure looking to avoid a blowout. The increased intensity lasted for the remainder of the frame as both sides battled for scoring chances.
San Antonio might have had a chance to get back in it if it weren’t for the continued stellar play of Roots netminder Paul Blanchette who made a diving save in the 30th minute to keep his squad in front. Blanchette flashed his athleticism again in the 40th, frustrating the visitors up until the halftime whistle.
But it was the visiting side that would take over in the second frame.
San Antonio came out of the gate in the second half with the same fervor Oakland had in the first. This pressure eventually found an outlet in the form of a goal from San Antonio midfielder Santi Patino in the 55th minute to cut Roots’ lead to 2-1.
The field continued to tilt in the visiting side’s favor for the remainder of the match, and to the dismay of the Oakland faithful San Antonio found a leveling goal in the waning moments of added time after a fierce physical battle through ninety minutes.
Oakland fended off San Antonio’s attempts at a last second third goal and the match ended with the final score of 2-2.
Oakland will now hit the road for a pair of games in Southern California before returning home for the regular season finale on October 14th against El Paso Locomotive, with kick-off set for 7:00 PM PT.
Interview with Head Coach Noah Delgado
Okay Noah, 2-2 draw to one of the best teams in the league but it feels disappointing. What do you make of it?
Started the game really well — it’s something we’ve been preaching, so I thought we started the game well — gave up a late goal that hurt. We’ll have to look at the film and see what happened. But the first half was good, just disappointed to let two goals in at the end.
It was one of the best first half performances of the season I thought. What are your thoughts on what occurred from then on?
Yeah, you know I thought we started the second half well also, got a couple of corners and chances in between. They pushed a lot of numbers forward and went direct. And they’ve got a lot of big, physical players as well.
Oakland Roots SC vs San Antonio FC
USL Championship | September 30, 2023
Venue: Cal State University, East Bay
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT
Weather: 62 degrees, partly cloudy
SCORELINE:
OAK: 2
SA: 2
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: 9’ Johnny Rodriguez
OAK: 10’ Anuar Peláez
SA: 55’ Santi Patino
SA: 90’+ Tani Oluwaseyi
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
SA: 65’ Jacori Hayes (yellow card)
OAK: 67’ Memo Diaz (yellow card)
SA: 80’ Juan Azocar (yellow card)
OAK: 90’+ Lindo Mfeka (yellow card)
OAK: 90’+ Anuar Peláez (yellow card)
SA: 90’+ Trova Boni (yellow card)
SA: 90’+ Jordan Farr (red card)
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Paul Blanchette, Danny Barbir, Neveal Hackshaw, Emrah Klimenta, Memo Diaz (Wolfgang Prentice), Tarek Morad, Irakoze Donasiyano, Baboucarr Njie (Napo Matsoso), Jeciel Cedeño (Lindo Mfeka), Johnny Rodriguez, Anuar Peláez
Unused subs: Trayvone Reid, Daniel Gomez, Luis Saldaña, Tim Syrel
Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 6 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 18 | Offside: 1 |
SAN ANTONIO FC LINEUP: Nick Marsman, Ismaila “Ish” Jome, Walid “Tulu” Yacoubou, Fabien Garcia, Connor Maloney (Juan Azócar), Jacori Hayes (Trova Boni), Rida Zouhir, Jorge Hernandez, Santi Patino, Tani Oluwaseyi, Nathan Fogaça (Ignacio Bailone)
Unused subs: Jordan Farr, Isaiah Parker, Lamar Batista, Justin Dhillon
Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 4 | Fouls: 20 | Offside: 1 |
