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USL Oakland Roots

Roots Concede Four First Half Goals, Fall 0-5 at Home to Birmingham Legion FC in Regular Season Finale

October 27, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Oakland Roots News Release


Oakland roots on game night
Oakland roots on game night
(Oakland Roots)

It was a night to forget for Oakland. After conceding four first half goals to visiting Birmingham Legion FC, Roots gave up another late, conceding five or more goals for a fourth time in a single season.

Oakland looked fit through the first 20 minutes of play, putting pressure on the Birmingham defense and generating some early scoring chances.

But it was Legion with the first goal of the contest at the 21st minute mark when Birmingham's

Preston Tabortetaka hit a gorgeous strike from outside the Oakland area that bent into the top left corner of the goal, beating netminder Tim Syrel to give the visiting side a 1-0 lead.

Ten minutes later in the 31st minute of the match, Legion struck again, doubling their lead on a counterattack which caught Syrel far out of position. Birmingham's Stefano Pinho capitalized on the mistake, lobbing in a shot from near midfield that dropped in over Oakland's keeper to make it 2-0.

Just moments later in the 35th minute, Birmingham added a third when Legion's Matthew Corcoran found Diba Nwegbo on a set piece. Nwegbo redirected the service with a header that found an opening to make it 3-0.

Legion scored yet another just five minutes later in the 40th minute of the match, this time a heat check shot from distance taken by Tabortetaka to earn him a brace. The shot was mishandled by Syrel and trickled into the net to give BHM a 4-0 lead in the first half.

Roots looked relatively better on defense throughout much of the second half, but Legion weren't done scoring yet. In the 87th minute Birmingham got their fifth after a ball played by Enzo Martinez via a throw-in was dribbled towards the top of the Oakland box and sent towards the net. Syrel looked as though he thought the play was dead, or that the ball would miss the target, as he stood motionless while the ball whirred into the twine to give the visitors a 5-0 lead.

Oakland will now prepare for the 2024 USL Championship playoffs having locked in their position as the No. 7 seed in the West. Roots will begin their postseason slate on Saturday, Nov. 2nd, heading to Colorado Springs to face the No. 2 seed Switchbacks in the first round.

Talking with Head Coach Gavin Glinton

Another tough loss that marks the fourth time to allow five goals. Why do you think this keeps happening?

We have a lack of commitment and consistency in our mentality. The minute we have anything going right for us, we start to think that we're Real Madrid and we don't have to work. That team has nothing to play for. We're on top of them, they transition, and we feel like we don't have to run back. It's embarrassing, and it's just about fight, and commitment, and heart in a lot of these moments.

You touched on it there - it felt like there was a lack of effort at times, lack of tracking back. Can you expand on that?

It's unacceptable. I don't know what else we're talking about. We're talking about game plan, where we have to go and fight and we're scrapping for points. We talked about preparing for the championship, and we come out and act like we don't need to do the details. We didn't respect the game, we didn't respect our opponent, we didn't respect ourselves. It's not even close.

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Oakland roots on game night
Oakland roots on game night
   

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