A red sun set on Laney College as The Town fans trickled through the field gates off of East 10th street in Oakland, California. The Roots boasted 4,000 strong in the stands as captain Matias Fissore led the Roots against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Wednesday evening in search of its first win of the season. It was an almost complete performance from The Roots who held well defensively and created plenty of meaningful chances but couldn’t find the back of the net in the 0-0 chess match.
The Roots took the undefeated Rowdies to task in the first half, slicing through the Rowdies’ midfield; Guerra’s side took advantage of the wide areas of the field left open due to Rowdies’ 3-5-2 formation and were unlucky not to score. Charlie Dennis alone had several chances in the first 15 minutes — his header in the 9’ was saved off the line in a controversial no-goal call by the assistant referee.
Oakland continued on the front foot in the second half. Captain Matias FIssore and midfield partner Jose herandez combined well and often as Ottar Magnus Karlsson provided a high reference point to the Roots attack. Lindo Mfeka and Dennis excelled from the wings. But no one from the Roots could find the crucial touch to score an opening goal. The Roots held strong defensively and thwarted every Rowdy attack with relative ease. In added time, Azocar found himself free on the back post and nodded home a potential match-winner. The crowd erupted but the referee called it back for offsides. Quickly soon after he blew the whistle for full time.
The Roots play in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup, American soccer’s longest-running professional tournament, on Thursday against the Greenville Triumph in Greenville, North Carolina before returning to Laney College on April 13th to play the Landon Donovan-coached San Diego Loyal.
Talking to Head Coach Juan Guerra
Takeaways from the match tonight?
Juan Guerra: From day one, I’ve been telling the guys that I’m performance-oriented and results are a consequence of a lot of good performances. I know that my job depends results on the end of the day.
The boys played an unbelievable game — not just what they displayed here — but what we did all of this week. We went to New Mexico, one of the top teams in the league, and we played our way with our identity. Two days later we got here and put this exhibition together for the people who came to see and support us. I’m proud of the boys. Win, lose, tie — I know their value.
I have a feeling now they know it too.
Talk about the backline trio and their impacts.
Juan Guerra: I told them we’d have to transform without losing our identity. We’re not going to change but we can be flexible depending on who and where we’re going to play. New Mexico and Tampa play a back three — sometimes it’s a back five. It made sense to make the switch after watching them. Now we’re a team that can play multiple systems. I liked how we looked today but we’ve got to keep pushing forward. We should’ve gotten the three points tonight.
Oakland Roots SC vs Tampa Bay Rowdies
USL Championship | April 2, 2022
Venue: Laney College, Oakland, California
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT
Weather: 65 degrees, partly cloudy
SCORELINE:
OAK: 0
TBR: 0
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
TBR: 22’ Lawrence Wyke
OAK: 23’ Matias Fissore
OAK: 58’ Edgardo Rito
OAK: 90’+1 Jose Hernandez
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Benny Diaz, Edgardo Rito, Alejandro Fuenmayor, Danny Barbir, Tarek Morad, Juan Azocar, Matias Fissore (Joseph Nane 71’), Jose Hernandez, Charlie Dennis (Jesus Enriquez 81’), Lindo Mfeka (Dariusz Formella 70’), Óttar Magnús Karlsson
Unused subs: Paul Blanchette, Emrah Klimenta, Akeem Ward, Johnny Rodriguez
Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 4 | Corner Kicks: 8 | Fouls: 13 | Offside: 2 |
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES LINEUP: Carlo Cochran, William Antley, Jordan Scarlett, Aaron Guillen, Lewis Hilton, Yann Ekra (Dayonn Harris 58’), Leonardo Ferdandes, Sebastian Asmussen, Laurence Wyke (Steevan Dos Santos 45’), Sebastian Guenzatti (c) (Kyle Greig 83’), Jake Lacava (Juan Tejada 58’)
Unused subs: Raiko Arozarena, Junior Etou, Jake Areman, Kyle Greig
Shots: 7 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 0 |
