Oakland Roots fall 1-0 at home to Monterey Bay FC, marking the third consecutive game Roots have failed to score and 17th consecutive game without keeping a clean sheet, bringing their record to 1-3-3.
Then things went bad.
After the full time whistle in Hayward, nearly the entire rosters of Oakland and Monterey Bay FC got into a scrum on the field, accumulating four red and two yellow cards issued by referee Gerald Flores. Shown red were Oakland’s Neveal Hackshaw and Baboucarr Njie, along with Monterey Bay’s Carlos Herrera and Walmer Martínez as he was walking into the locker rooms at Pioneer Stadium—Martínez did not acknowledge the infraction.
Former Root forward and unused substitute for Monterey Bay, Chuy Enriquez, was involved and shown a postgame yellow card along with Oakland’s Memo Diaz.
While it was difficult to see from the field level on the South side of the stadium, Martinez initially shoved a Roots player, leading to Hackshaw chasing him down. Video showed Njie running after Martinez before being held back, then Hackshaw slipped when throwing a punch, resulting in Martinez attempting to kick Hackshaw in the face. It would be surprising if Hackshaw and Martinez, at least, didn’t receive multiple game suspensions.
Roots’ head coach Noah Delgado declined to comment when asked about the situation postgame.
The USL always tries to keep outbreaks such as this from the public eye—the league’s highlights from this match cut away at the end of stoppage time. What happened postgame should not be glorified, but remains important news.
It means Oakland will be without its foremost captain in Hackshaw and will force a key player, Njie, to miss time. Now suffering three straight losses without a goal, finding productivity will become increasingly difficult without two critical playmakers.
Game Recap
MBFC substitute Chase Boone’s 86th minute counter attacking goal was all the only time a live ball saw the back of the net. While the Roots may feel hard done by it after a productive second half, stagnant play to blame for much of the game ultimately helped do them in.
After a morbid first half in which the hosts recorded just one shot attempt, the Roots managed to pick up the tempo and control in the latter 45 minutes.
Oakland’s midfield was completely overrun in the first half and Monterey Bay had all of the chances with five shots, three on target, and one big opportunity missed prior to halftime. The Roots’ two man pivot of Daniel Gomez and Irakoze Donasiyano seemed outnumbered by the visitor’s 4-1-4-1 shape.
Rafael Baca, the base of Monterey’s midfield, asserted technical and positional control over the game. The workman duo of Gomez and Donasiyano were productive at winning the ball for Oakland, but there was a disconnect in Roots’ buildup and progressing downfield.
Baca was providing an impact as a ball-moving, tempo-setting midfielder. Despite sitting deep in the midfield, his technical ability stands out on the pitch. While Oakland can be susceptible to stalling out during extended possession spells, Baca was swinging the ball with purpose for Monterey’s midfield.
Late in the first half, Njie found himself slipping inside to make up for the numerical disadvantage centrally, leading to a shot by Koze to get their first corner and shot attempt in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.
Substitute Johnny Rodriguez returned from injury in the second half and was the key to the Roots’ positive play. His effort and strategic pressing took Monterey Bay out of rhythm and allowed Oakland to get on the front foot.
The additional changes of Memo Diaz and Napo Matsoso for Njie and Trayvonne Reid gave Roots an upper hand as well. Diaz’s energy and combination play on the left side made Oakland a more dangerous and exciting team. He should get the starting nod next week with Njie’s red card.
Matoso moved into Jeciel Cedeño’s attacking midfielder role, with the Ecuadorian becoming the forward alongside Rodriguez. Matoso increased the ground covered in the midfield for Oakland, and Cedeño and Rodriguez together look like Roots’ most dangerous attacking pair.
Monterey Bay countered this positive play from Oakland ruthlessly for their goal. Gagi Margvelashvili banged into a Monterey player and ended up on the ground trying to win the ball back in the midfield. The short-handed Roots backline was exposed in rapid transition, leaving Hackshaw covering two players in transition. In the end, Monterey was able to capitalize.
On the back of the A’s announced move to Sacramento and the club’s call to action in regards to the Coliseum and Malibu Lot negotiations, this was the culmination of a dark week for Oakland sports. For the second consecutive week, Roots lost to a team captained by a former member of the club, Kai Greene.
Saturday wasn’t only an unwelcome reminder of how poorly Roots have started the season, but how they ended last year and how previous Oakland teams were able to inspire confidence.
Great read 💯