Well, that was bad. Oakland Roots suffer another historic 5-0 loss to North Carolina FC, matching their loss against Pittsburgh as the most lopsided in club history. The result moves Oakland down to fourth place, overtaken by Colorado Springs as beat Tampa Bay.
North Carolina struck first in the sixth minute on some terrific interplay, where an initial header attempt hit off of the right post and ricocheted perfectly to the feet of Rodrigo Da Costa for the goal. NCFC scored again just two minutes later on a counter attack goal by Rafael Metzingen–and the rout was on.
North Carolina made it 3-nil in the 32nd on the end of a corner, where Mikey Maldonado’s cross to in front of the net was headed home by Paco Craig. Evan Conway made it 4-zip right before halftime in the 44th in perhaps the ugliest goal of the batch, where Roots’ goal keeper Paul Blanchette played a poor long pass while playing way outside of the box. NC put a stamp on it in the 63rd on another counter attack, this time by Ezra Armstrong.
Roots look ahead to coming back home to Pioneer Stadium against San Antonio, which sits in 11th of the Western Conference.
Talking Points
- Terrible away form continues
Although Roots are 5-2-7 on the road, which puts them as the fourth best in the Western Conference, the result brings Oakland’s goal differential to -10 when playing away. Their 27 goals allowed on the road is the worst in Roots’ conference.
Oakland is now 1-1-2 over its last four road games, but the two losses are both 5-nil defeats to North Carolina and Pittsburgh. They head to the East Coast again on September 21 against Hartford, travel to Memphis on October 5, then travel to Las Vegas on October 19. Each three should be winnable games, but its hard to predict with Roots’ away form.
On the heels of a terrific win over New Mexico, Roots play down to competition below them, once again.
- Lineup choices
Some choices with the lineup brought some head-scratchers. Memo Diaz being out on paternity leave (congrats Memo) moved Baboucarr Njie down to right wingback, which pushed Johnny Rodriguez out to the right wing and Miche-Naider Chéry starting up top. It’s worth mentioning that Lindo Mfeka did not make the travel list, but wasn’t listed with an injury in the team’s pre-match press release.
The midfield also brought some interesting choices with Koze Donasiyano getting his 12th start of the season and first since the 1-1 draw with Memphis on August 24, while Napo Matsoso received his first start since July 21’s loss to Sacramento.
Tonight, it looked like there was no connection between the forward line and midfield, often with huge pockets behind Roots’ attackers as they pushed forward. There were a lot of moments where Johnny dropped deeper in to the midfield and that didn’t seem to work either.
- Sinisterra gets some action
Aside from the loss, it was nice to see José Luis Sinisterra get on the field in the 61st minute, I honestly would’ve liked to see him and Dwyer brought on at halftime when the game was already lost.
Sinisterra showed a lot of what he was advertised to do. He was shifty in possession, showcased some flashy passes, and looked good around the ball.
He finished with one created scoring chance, four accurate passes, one shot on target, one pass into the final third, and three recoveries. Perhaps we’ll see more of Sinisterra going forward.
Starting Lineup
- Oakland Roots Starting 11
A few of notable changes; Miche-Naider Chéry starts up top in the #9 spot, while Johnny Rodriguez shifts out to the left wing opposite of Trayvone Reid. There is no Memo Diaz in the lineup or subs list, moving Baboucarr Njie to the ring wingback role. In the midfield is Napo Matsoso and Koze Donasiyano with Camden Riley and Danny Gomez on the bench. Also making the trip was Dom Dwyer and Jose Luis Sinisterra.
A team source indicates Memo is out for the birth of his child. Big congrats to the new dad!
- North Carolina Starting 11
Timeline
GAME TIME!! Can Oakland Roots get it done on the road against a vulnerable Eastern Conference side?
NC slow shot across face of goal – 4′
NC header high – 4′
NC quick goal – 6′
Good work from NC. Header hits off of the post and lays up perfectly to Da Costa. Ugly start for Oakland.
NC another goal – 8′
Big play on the counter attack, Mentzingen wiiiiiiide open for the free run.
Napo shot on target – 10′
forces a diving save and a corner
Roots corner – 10′
nada
NC with 5 shots and 2 on target in 10 minutes
more nervy moments for Oakland – 13′
play toward Paul, bats it away and almost leads to a shot
NC header saved – 14′
Roots long free kick- 16′
Goes to Chéry, his shot on the volley sails very high
NC corner – 18′
NC corner- 26′
Foul in front of net by NC
NC shot high from in front of net – 18′
Perez right in front
Chéry shot narrowly wide- 29′
does well to win the ball
NC corner – 32′
Another goal, it’s over. Header by Craig, way too easy. No one coming out for the ball. Looks like a Pittsburgh type of loss.
Babou off for Ilya – 38′
it’s a disaster. Paul way out of the box and passes the ball away, leads to a goal by Conway – 44′
It’s a blowout. NC with 14 shots, 7 on target despite having just 38 percent possession.
NC shot high – 48′
it looks so easy for them
NC hit post – 50′
Johnny near miss – 59′
volley just right of the post
Dwyer, Gomez, and Sinisterra coming on – 61′
Chery, Reid and Napo
NC another goal – 63′
just kill me. Too easy for Armstrong, how can it get this bad
NC corner – 71′
NC almost scores a sixth – 76′
Camier comes on – 77′
Gagi off, getting the kids minutes
Roots corner – 79′
Another corner – 80′
leads to nothing
NC corner – 82′
Roots free kick good area – 84′
Roots goal called offside – 84′
Dwyer header very wide – 89′
What the heck did I just watch