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Live Blog: Oakland Roots vs. Loudoun United (August 10, 2024)

Jonathan Comeaux

Credit: Oakland Roots SC

Oakland Roots secure a 3-1 win over Loudoun United to put itself up to 35 points, matching Sacramento in second-place. It marks a terrific start to Oakland’s final stretch of the season.

Oakland took the initial lead in the 24th minute when Baboucarr Njie tapped in a shot from Gagi Margvelashvili on the goal line. However, Loudoun tied in the 54th.

But it didn’t take long for Roots to pull back ahead when Memo Diaz connected with Johnny Rodriguez on a perfect long pass over the top–leading to Johnny slotting away his shot in the 62nd minute.

Then in the 81st, Trayvone Reid killed the game with a rocket rightfooted shot after recieving a pass from Gagi.

Postgame press conference

RootsBlog Man of the Match – Gagi Margvelashvili

We name Gagi Margvelashvili our RootsBlog Man of the Match for his pair of assists.

Initially looking like he scored the initial goal that was tapped in by Njie, Gagi was a huge part of the score. He stole a pass high up toward Loudoun’s penalty area, played a pass to Johnny Rodriguez at the top of the area, then received a pass from Johnny for his shot attempt. It skipped toward the goal and looked like it passed the line, but Njie had to put in a challenge with a Loudoun defender close by.

Then in Reid’s goal, Gagi similarly won possession then played a pass to Trayvone for the killer.

Initial Takeaways

The victory puts Oakland up to 35 points, matching Sacramento’s 35 points in second and just three points behind New Mexico in first place. It was a strong performance despite relinquishing an initial 1-0 lead, controlling much of the second half after conceding in the 54th minute.

Glinton had high praise of the team following the win, saying Oakland made a good team in Loudoun look more like the Loudoun of previous years.

“I’m so happy with the performance, I thought it was a really professional performance and the guys executed the gameplan fantastically,” Glinton said. “We did a great job making a very good team look not very great tonight. We got some goals on the end, we were aggressive, and finished some plays off. I couldn’t be happier with the effort and the result.”

Memo Diaz claimed his fifth assist of the year on an incredible pass over the top to Johnny Rodriguez to reclaim the Roots’ lead.

The connection marked the third consecutive game for the two to pair up on a goal contribution. Rodriguez assisted Memo recently in the 2-1 win at Miami, while Diaz had an assist to Johnny in the 5-2 loss to Sacramento.

Glinton commented that Diaz and Johnny “share the same brain,” in that the two have an instinctive connection based on the extra work they’ve done after practice.

“They share the same brain,” Glinton said with a laugh. “It’s intrinsic, they train together and probably hit 50 crosses after every training session. They don’t have to talk, it’s a half second quicker than anybody else. Again, you see it over and over.”

Johnny’s goal marked the third consecutive game for him to get on the scoresheet, including four scores and five goal contributions over that span. Now with 10 goals and three assists, Rodriguez has already matched last year’s goal contributions total of 13 in around 400 less minutes.

In the preseason press conference, Rodriguez said he was focused on becoming a leader and converting more of the easy opportunities. He’s doing just that and is in the midst of a career-year for the 26-year-old striker.

“He’s been another player who has just been solid day-in, day-out in training sessions and every match,” Glinton said. “He doesn’t get too high or too low. We can just count on him, you can put him on the right or the left. He’s just Mr. Dependable right now, he just put it on his back, puts his head down, and keeps going. It’s been big for us.”

Now is the time of the year when USL Championship teams routinely make additions to its roster as they prepare for the final stretch of the season. For Roots, they’ve sold off Jeciel Cedeño to Detroit City and haven’t made a big addition ahead of the playoff push.

But don’t tell Glinton the squad isn’t ready for the playoffs. Similar to last year, Roots enter the final 11 games in third place. Dissimilar to last year, there is an energy and camaraderie in 2024 that was rarely present in the previous go-around.

Glinton knows what work needs to be done and is confident he has the group to accomplish their goals.

“I love our roster. I think we’re deep, we’re versatile, we’re continuing to build, and add to our game model. Our cohesion and the little things will hopefully take us over the top down the stretch. But, yeah, I’m comfortable with the Player 1 through Player 24,” Glinton said.

Glinton was an assistant coach of last year’s team when it collapsed out of playoff contention. He knows they can’t get rest on their laurels at this point.

“The goal is to make sure we are there [playoff-ready]. We’ve got a big run-in right now and we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves again. Obviously, we’ve been here before. The season is going to have ups and downs, and its getting to crunch time. We’re just focused on adding everything we need to add to keep going.”

Stay tuned, Roots and Soul fam.

Starting Lineup

No Paul Blanchette, a club source indicated he’s had a baby. Congrats Paul!

It’s a 3-4-3 with a back line of Logue at LCB, Hackshaw playing centrally, and Gagi at RCB. It pushes Camden Riley back into the midfield opposite of Danny Gomez, while Justin Rasmussen plays LWB and Memo Diaz at RWB. Baboucarr Njie starts at LW while Lindo Mfeka plays opposite of him–it will be interesting to watch how both players rotate around the field. And up top, its Johnny Rodriguez. No Dom Dwyer on the bench and he wasn’t listed on the injurt report. Bryan Tamacas on the bench.

Timeline

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