After a second straight match in which Roots dominated possession and looked like the better side for a majority of the night, Oakland played to a draw at home for the second time in a 5-day span, a 1-1 final versus Birmingham Legion FC.
The afternoon match began with Birmingham showing an aggressive high press that was shortly abandoned when Roots were able to deal with the pressure without looking overly concerned.
Oakland then took control of the match, sustaining pressure in the attacking third and holding possession for long stretches of the first frame, although seldom finding dangerous scoring opportunities.
Against the run of play, with Roots controlling nearly 70% of possession in the first half, it was Birmingham that opened the scoring in the match when a through ball from near midfield found Peter Vasell at full speed in behind the defense, finishing a top corner strike at the end of his run that was Birmingham’s first look on target of the match to take an 0-1 lead in added time.
Desperate to avoid a loss in a game which they were carrying momentum, Roots continued to ask questions of the Legion defense in the second half, but time and time again were thwarted.
In added time of the match, Oakland’s stubborn pressure finally found an outlet when a Jesus De Vicente corner service found Peter Wilson on a bounce near the top of the box. Wilson’s strike froze the Birmingham keeper and snuck just inside the right post to level the match 1-1 just moments before the final whistle.
Roots will now head on the road to Arizona for a league fixture versus Phoenix Rising FC this Saturday, June 20th at 7:30 PM PT.
Talking with Head Coach Ryan Martin
What are your thoughts on the performance tonight, and pulling out a result at the very end?
Yeah, I think one is we felt really good about the performance overall. We thought the start of the match was good, the first half was really dominant. I think we took a very valuable lesson about the margins of error, and a turnover in the middle of the field leading to a counter attack against a team that sits in a low block, how difficult that makes a second half for us. And I think they scored at a critical moment in the first half to make it really difficult for us.
With that being said, I think we created more than enough to get a win, but at the same time, I think looking at the resiliency and the belief that the team showed to score in added time there is incredible, and I think they just kept believing, kept fighting, and we knew our chances were going to come again, and you know, we got one to fall.
