Key Takeaways from Roots’ 2-0 Win Over Detroit City FC
Roots are hardly recognizable since the beginning of June. Following their 2-0 victory at home over Detroit City FC, Oakland now sits tied for 9th place in the Western Conference table with 17 points — just a single point out of the all-important 8th place position that represents a playoff berth.
Oakland will have another chance to climb the table at home on Saturday, July 12th in a massive conference matchup with Phoenix Rising FC. Until then, we look back on Roots’ clean sheet win over Detroit City:
Going Streaking
Two is nice, but three’s a streak.
Roots have now won back-to-back-to-back in all competitions for the first time since June of last year. Wins fix just about everything in sports, and Oakland has been playing joyful soccer as of late. Head coach Benny Feilhaber says that the wins have been a “proof of concept” that has helped players trust the process of implementing new strategies and developing a true Roots identity.
Believe it or Not
Saturday’s win was one of the most bizarre outcomes in USL Championship history.
Roots didn’t earn their first shot on goal until Panos Armenakas’ 55th minute game-winner — and they didn’t earn another for the entire rest of the match. But an own goal from Detroit City late in play meant Oakland would win 2-0 despite only officially recording a single shot on target through 90 minutes. You don’t see that every day.
No Longer an Anomaly
Oakland has now posted clean-sheets in three of their last four USL Championship fixtures and haven’t allowed a goal from open play in over 360 minutes of regular season action. Once the leaders of the league in goals conceded, Roots’ defensive turnaround can no longer be viewed as just a good couple of games, but instead a core tenet of their philosophy and style.
Roots only allowed Detroit a single shot on target on Saturday, and it was an easy clean-up for Kendall McIntosh that didn’t come until the 89th minute of play. Oakland has been smothering teams off the ball and making it extremely difficult to create meaningful scoring chances in their defensive third.
