Despite striking first and delivering a late flurry of scoring opportunities, Oakland Roots settled for a 1-1 draw vs Memphis 901 FC on Wednesday night in the East Bay.
Oakland opened the match looking like the sharper team. Early in the half, Roots earned a free kick, nearly converting the set piece. Just minutes later Johnny Rodriguez beat Memphis keeper Bill Hamid, sending the home crowd into a frenzy, but the linesman determined Rodriguez to be offside on the play, erasing the goal.
Memphis settled into the match, earning a few good scoring chances of their own, but were met with even better defense from Oakland.
But Roots were determined to earn back the goal that was erased earlier. In the 33rd minute they did just that, when Jeciel Cedeño received a perfect pass from Danny Barbir and deposited into the twine to put Oakland ahead 1-0.
Roots looked to keep pressing in the second half, but Memphis took advantage of a defensive miscue and leveled the match at 1-1 in the 61st minute, courtesy of a goal from forward Laurent Kissiedou.
Oakland nearly gained the lead again in the 86th minute when Darek Formella looked to score a header, but the referee ruled that the ball was deflected off of Formella’s hand, and the goal was disallowed.
Roots bombarded the Memphis keeper with a flurry of scoring chances near the end of the match, desperate to regain the lead and earn all three points as their playoff push begins. But despite this sustained pressure to close out the contest, Oakland was unable to find the twine again, settling for a 1-1 draw.
Oakland Roots will now head down the coast to Monterey to take on Monterey Bay FC on Saturday, July 15th at 7:00 PM PT.
Oakland Roots SC vs Memphis 901 FC
USL Championship | July 12, 2023
Venue: Cal State University, East Bay
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT
Weather: 66 degrees, sunny
SCORELINE:
OAK: 1
MEM: 1
SCORING SUMMARY:
OAK: 33’ Jeciel Cedeño
MEM: 61’ Laurent Kissiedou
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
MEM: 63’ Akeem Ward (yellow card)
MEM: 72’ Graham Smith (yellow card)
OAK: 86’ Darek Formella (yellow card)
OAK: 90’+ Jeciel Cedeño (yellow card)
OAK: 90’+ Neveal Hackshaw (red card)
OAKLAND ROOTS LINEUP: Paul Blanchette, Tarek Morad, Neveal Hackshaw, Danny Barbir, Bryan Tamacas, Napo Matsoso (Daniel Gomez), Joseph Nane (Trayvone Reid), Memo Diaz, Jeciel Cedeño, Darek Formella (Wolfgang Prentice), Johnny Rodriguez (Anuar Peláez)
Unused subs: Ryan Her, Emrah Klimenta, Taylor Bailey
Shots: 10 | Shots On Goal: 4 | Corner Kicks: 2 | Fouls: 18 | Offside: 2 |
MEMPHIS 901 FC LINEUP: Bill Hamid, Graham Smith, Jelani Peters, Rece Buckmaster, Akeem Ward, Aaron Molloy, Jeremy Kelly, Bruno Lapa (Rodrigo da Costa), Laurent Kissiedou, Luiz Fernando (Rashawn Dally), Nighte Pickering (Dylan Borczak)
Unused subs: Drew Romig, Lucas Turci, Leston Paul, Emerson Hyndman
Shots: 14 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 3 | Fouls: 16 | Offside: 5 |
