Oakland Roots got back in the win column for the second time this season, coming from behind twice in a 3-2 win over El Paso Locomotive thanks to a pair of second-half goals by Johnny Rodriguez. The victory puts Oakland at 2-1-3 and up to eighth place in the USL Championship’s Western Conference.
Facing winless El Paso, Saturday’s match was a must-win for Roots and coach Noah Delgado. It marked the start of a critical four-game stretch to end the month of April with hosting El Farolito in the U.S. Open Cup tomorrow, at Detroit City on April 20, and facing last-place Colorado Springs on April 27 in Hayward.
Locomotive got the game started strongly with a goal in the 13th minute after drawing a corner, where the cross into the box wasn’t cleared away by Roots’ defense. It allowed El Paso’s Amando Moreno to take a couple of dribbles with his back turned to net, turning for a shot into a crowd of Oakland defender to take a deflection into net.
Oakland got its answer 18 minutes later on its second shot attempt of the game. On a free kick about 10 yards out of the penalty area on the right side, Memo Diaz arched in a pin-point cross to Niall Logue making a run at the near post, volleying in a shot a left-footed flick to the opposite post. But with three minutes left in the first half, El Paso’s Justin Dhillon was awarded and converted a penalty after Irakoze Donasiyano made contact on his tackle attempt.
But Roots didn’t trail for long with Johnny Rodriguez taking things over in the second half. Rodriguez’s first goal in the 47th minute started with Gagi Margvelashvili sending up a pass to Johnny, winning the ball before dribbling into open space. A couple of yards free from defenders, Rodriguez rocketed in a shot from over 30-31 yards.
Then three minutes later, Johnny drew the penalty and converted the kick when El Paso GK Jahmali Waite clattered into him. Rodriguez lasered in a shot to the right of Waite to put Oakland back ahead.
Here’s are our five talking points coming out of Saturday.
Spark-providing performance?
Was Saturday’s performance one that can provide a spark towards the rest of the season? The photo above shows just how much the away win meant to Oakland’s roster.
Although Oakland trailed going into halftime, the second-half production was the most fluid Roots have looked this season. They only finished with 36 percent of possession in the latter 45 minutes, showing great interplay and connectivity to get the ball downfield.
After allowing four shots with two on target in the first half, Roots’ defense prevented El Paso from making plays in the attacking third throughout the second half with just one shot attempt that was easily handled by Paul Blanchette. El Paso took just five touches in Oakland’s penalty area in the second half.
Roots system has been tough to decipher up to this point, but Saturday’s result showed their best connectivity through all six games with stifling pressing to keep El Paso pushed back. If Oakland continues holding the lesser side of possession, they’ll need to continue executing on the interplay they showed against El Paso. Making it a trend will bring a serious confidence boost to Roots’ fanbase.
Johnny’s magnificence
Johnny. Scores. Bangers.
Just look at how beautiful this was.
In the buildup of Johnny’s strike in the 47th, Memo makes a defensive header to loop the ball back to Gagi, who volleys a a pass up to Johnny–successfully holding off Bolu Akinyode to retrieve. After dribbling into an open spot, Rodriguez recognized he was permitted a couple of yards in each direction, launching a Worldy into net.
Then in the 50th minute, Rodriguez’s instinctually hopped in front of Waite to draw contact and the subsequent penalty. It started with Gagi, once again, sending a long pass up targeting Diaz–who flicked on a deflected pass into Johnny’s path.
Both goals were a product of successfully building out of the back with Gagi and Diaz being involved in both instances.
Johnny’s first goal marked his 20th in a Roots’ uniform to officially pass Ottar Magnus Karlsson as the team’s all-time leading goal scorer, while his brace put him at 21 throughout his career.
As Roots’ longest tenured player since 2020’s NISA campaign, Rodriguez is placing himself as one of the organization’s best players since its inception. He’s up for the USLC’s Goal of the Week.
Memo Diaz must start?
Memo Diaz was already starting to enter must-start territory after his last couple of performances, but Saturday showed how important the wingback is to the entire operation. His assist to Logue marked his 11th in a Roots’ uniform, passing Edgardo Rito as the club’s all-time leader in assists.
His cross into Logue was on-the-button, while he also got involved on both of the other two goals. For Johnny’s wondergoal, Diaz headed an El Paso throw-in back to Margvelashvili, leading to his assist to Rodriguez. On the penalty kick, Memo deserves an assist for creating the opportunity when heading a long pass from Gagi into Johnny’s direction.
He finished with two scoring chances created, 24 completed passes, won 13 duels including nine aerial duels, won two tackles and finished with 59 total touches. Diaz also nearly assisted Ilya Alekseev in first half stoppage time.
Diaz’s productive return to El Paso on Saturday was quite the homecoming. It was a testament to how his career has developed since leaving the West Texas town, now hitting 101 career appearances as a veteran in the USL Championship.
After appearing 12 times with the Locomotive for a total of 381 minutes, Diaz signed with Roots for its expansion season in 2021. He only made 20 appearances for 866 minutes in 2022 and re-earned a starting spot in 2023, recording career highs with three goals and five assists.
Memo is already near halfway to last year’s assist mark with two thus far after five appearances and four starts. If he can continue being a playmaker, he’ll solidify himself as the starter at LWB, once again.
Ilya Alekseev and the youth movement
Saturdays match continued to show the youth movement from Project 51O to Oakland Roots with Ilya Alekseev getting his second career start while Etsgar Cruz entered in the 59th minute following Trayvone Reid’s injury. Getting their first professional minutes doesn’t appear to be too much for the teenagers.
Alekseev was particularly impressive, even more-so than his debut against Charleston when he scored. On Saturday, Ilya was heavily involved and never seemed out of position or overburdened by the right wingback role. He had Roots’ first shot attempt in the 29th minute to draw a corner and made a good run on his scoring chance at 45+1′. In the second half, Alekseev continued to show good movement in transition and made several one-touch passes.
With Camden Riley out, Delgado opted to move Alekseev to RWB and move Bryan Tamacas back to the right-side center back spot. He completed 11 of 15 passes, missed one big chance, had two shots, and finished with 36 total touches.
Lindo Mfeka’s pre-game injury and Reid exiting also meant Cruz was depended on in critical moments. Although Etsgar only had six touches, he made a nice attacking run in stoppage time. He now has 120 minutes in four appearances.
Lindo, Trayvone, and the CAM role
As mentioned above, Lindo and Trayvone’s injury hurled Etsgar into action in the 59th minute.
Mfeka was slated to make his second straight start on Saturday and was listed in the club’s starting 11. However, he apparently felt tightness during pregame warmups and pulled himself out of the lineup.
“He felt tightness and pulled himself out of starting,” said the club when asked about Lindo.
Reid suffered a non-contact ankle injury in the second half, so it’ll be interesting to see what his availability looks like. As for Lindo, making the call to pull himself out of starting leads me to believe he was being extra cautious with his body given his injury woes throughout his career.
If Lindo and Reid are incapable of playing in Detroit, what would that mean for the lineup? It largely depends on the plan at the striker position; if Delgado opts to start Johnny alongside Jeciel Cedeño, it means Cruz would be in-line for a start. If Miche-Naider Chéry returns to the starting lineup, Cedeño would likely get the nod at the CAM spot with Cruz being his primary backup.
With things trending the way they are, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Etsgar continue getting playing time.
April 16; Alameda County meeting & U.S. Open Cup
Tuesday, April 16 is an important day on multiple fronts. Of the foremost significance, Roots are scheduled to discuss the price and terms of payment for the Malibu Lot and training facility at Harbor Bay Parkway.
Roots are asking its season-ticket holders and owners to make their voices heard at Tuesday’s 9:30 a.m. meeting to urge the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to finalize the agreement with Oakland Roots and Soul on all fronts, including the organization playing at the Oakland Coliseum in 2025.
Oakland last expressed Alameda County was “deliberating a pivot” from their plans at all three sites, making Tuesday a critical time. The Blog’s Jack Morris wrote a handy script for people to follow.
Tuesday also marks Roots’ 2024 debut in the U.S. Open Cup. They have the honor of hosting El Farolito, which has already made waves for upsetting two professional teams to play Oakland.
Burrito Brava are inspired to keep their Cinderella story going, making Tuesday’s game an intriguing matchup on short rest.