Roots Defeat League Leaders Louisville City FC 1-0 at Home

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USL Oakland Roots

Roots Defeat League Leaders Louisville City FC 1-0 at Home

July 7, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Oakland Roots News Release


Oakland Roots' Guillermo Diaz in action
Oakland Roots' Guillermo Diaz in action
(Oakland Roots)

Oakland locked up defensively on Saturday night in the East Bay, as Roots handed visiting Louisville City FC just their third loss of the USL Championship season in a thrilling 1-0 victory.

Out of the gate, Lou City looked to be the more organized team, keeping their shape and moving the ball well upfield. But the Roots were adept at playing spoiler, maintaining the majority of possession through the first frame, and limiting the visitors ability to gather any momentum.

Louisville nearly scored on two separate occasions in the first half in which Roots left a man unmarked on the far post, but on both occasions an Oakland defender was able to get in front of the resulting shot and keep the match level heading into the half.

It looked to be more of the same entering the second half of play, with Louisville looking dangerous, but Roots holding steadfast.

In the 62nd minute, the match changed entirely. Lindo Mfeka received the ball in the Lou City penalty area at the end of a perfectly timed run and played a low crosser to Johnny Rodriguez who tapped in the empty netter to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

After the goal was scored, Roots looked like a different, more confident group. Scoring chances became more frequent, and while the defensive end still looked perilous on occasion, the line would bend but never break.

Oakland would hold on to their single goal lead through a lengthy seven minutes of additional time to reach the final whistle victorious.

Roots will now head on the road having won five of their last six contests to face the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday, July 13th before returning home to host NorCal rivals Sacramento Republic FC on Sunday, July 21st. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 PM PT.

Talking with Head Coach Gavin Glinton

All right, Gavin, that is a huge result against one of the best teams in the league, you know they're gonna get their chances. What was the game plan? And how did it progress against these guys?

Yeah, I think we didn't start well. They were able to pin us in a little bit in the first half. They're obviously a very, very good team. They understand their system very well, and they're pretty fluid with how they move, whether it's two or three forward. We had a little bit of trouble getting pressure on the ball and getting wide in the first half. We did a much better job in the second half of getting a little bit higher pressure - it turned into a lot more chances for us. I think we were able to turn the game a little bit in the second half and start creating more chances. So again, guys ability to adjust in the second half and make the necessary adjustments - credit to them.

What were some of those adjustments that you talked about? The team looked like a completely different side in the second half. What were some of the things that you let them know?

We talked about making sure that our ball speed and circulation was a little bit cleaner, and picked up some spots that we were looking to hit them with. I think it was just a little bit more of a connection and us finding spots a little bit quicker for us to be able to break through. I thought we were a little bit slow and ponderous with the ball in the first half.

Oakland Roots SC vs Louisville City

USL Championship | July 6, 2024

Venue: Pioneer Stadium, Hayward, California

Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT

Weather: 82 degrees, Sunny

SCORELINE:

OAK: 1

LOU: 0

SCORING SUMMARY:

OAK: Johnny Rodriguez 62'

DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:

OAK: Napo Matsoso 23' (yellow card)

LOU: Sean Totsch 60' (yellow card)

LOU: Taylor Davila 68' (yellow card)

OAK: Miche-Naider Chéry 70' (yellow card)

OAK: Jeciel Cedeño 88' (yellow card)

LOU: Carlos Moguel Jr 90'+ (yellow card)

OAK: Dom Dwyer 90'+ (yellow card)

OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Paul Blanchette, Justin Rasmussen (Bryan Tamacas), Neveal Hackshaw, Camden Riley, Memo Diaz, Napo Matsoso (Irakoze Donasiyano), Baboucarr Njie (Trayvone Reid), Daniel Gomez, Lindo Mfeka (Niall Logue), Miche-Naider Chéry (Jeciel Cedeño), Johnny Rodriguez (Dom Dwyer)

Unused subs: Timothy Syrel

Shots: 8 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 1 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 3 |

LOUISVILLE CITY FC LINEUP: Damian Las, Taylor Davila, Elijah Wynder, Sean Totsch (Carlos Moguel Jr.), Arturo Ordoñez (Evan Davila), Wesley Charpie, Sam Gleadle (Abiola Showunmi), Jake Morris (Amadou Dia), Aiden McFadden (Jansen Wilson), Ray Serrano (Dylan Mares), Wilson Harris

Unused subs: Ryan Troutman

Shots: 10 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 4 | Fouls: 18 | Offside: 3 |

Check out the Oakland Roots Statistics




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Oakland Roots' Guillermo Diaz in action
Oakland Roots' Guillermo Diaz in action
   

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