Oakland Roots suffer its second straight loss, this time in a 1-nil loss to the visiting San Antonio FC. It comes after conceding the eventual game winning goal in the fourth minute.
Conceding to Luis Solginac in the fourth minute marked the third goal Oakland has conceded in the first 10 minutes over the last two games. Making matters worse, Camden Riley drew a second yellow in the moments before halftime to put Roots down a man.
Oakland ends the night in sixth place after starting the day in fourth. Roots are now equal points with Las Vegas at 40, but Lights hold the tiebreaker after beating Roots 3-1 at home.
Roots look ahead to visiting Hartford, making another opportunity against a team below the playoff line.
Postgame Press Conference
Talking Points
- Back to back losses against bottom feeders
Oakland struggled in another game against team below the playoff line. Interim head coach Gavin Glinton called the previous game against North Carolina an “abomination” and was pleased with tonight’s effort after going down a man.
“We can definitely separate the two matches. Last week was an abomination and no where near what we want, what we expect, or what we demand. We were very clear about that,” Glinton said.
“This one was tougher because of the finer margins; we gave up and early goal and we need to be tighter there. Going down to ten men obviously changed the game. Even then, we had moments. I’d like to see us be a little more dangerous in the final third. It’s a game of inches and I can’t fault the effort… Today was an “acceptable loss” given the circumstances of the early goal and the red card.”
It’s an unfortunate turn for Oakland, being within striking distance of first place but are now questioning if a home playoff game is in the cards. The night ends with them in sixth place.
“It’s really tight right now. Before this game, we had a chance to move into second or third place. Next week is not necessarily going to change anything; we’d love to host a game. Every game will be a war from here on out, we want to finish as high as we can,” Glinton said.
Roots have gained some monumental wins over top teams like New Mexico, Sacramento, Louisville, and Tampa Bay–showing they can hang with the toughest title contenders in the USL Championship. Following the win over New Mexico, the question was whether Oakland was playoff ready. Now with back-to-back losses against teams below the playoff line, the question is now what Oakland needs to do to assure its ready for the postseason.
“We need to make sure that we bring some of those baseline culture things; that’s our competitive drive, our fight, our attention to detail, our selflessness, and our resiliency. When we’ve played with that, we’ve done really well. I think the guys see that and there’s nothing to feel bad about. We’ll go back in, regroup, and be ready for a push,” Glinton said.
- The style of play
For the second straight game, Glinton was pleading for his team to boot the ball long. Similar to the loss in North Carolina, Roots had most of the possession with 56 percent of the ball, but it doesn’t see to be the style of play Glinton wants to implement.
He called Oakland “too casual” in possession, which may have led to San Antonio’s go-ahead.
“We need to be aggressive. Especially last week, we were just playing too casual, playing in our end and not looking to attack the other team. I think we’re very tough when we play direct and force opposition to hold more defenders back. It opens up the game for us,” Glinton said.
Going into halftime at a player disadvantage had an obvious impact on the approach.
“It changes a lot because we’re talking about ways we can get on the front-foot, but then you lose a man and you have to be very careful with how you attack and the spaces you’re giving up,” Glinton said.
- The refereeing
Glinton had choice words for the officiating in the post-match talk, speaking with honesty over the questionable decision making.
“Week-in, Week-out, we seem to get the tough end of some refereeing decisions. Tonight, he’s quick to give a yellow card for diving, but misses a complete penalty that the rest of the staff is talking about after the game,” Glinton said.
Camden Riley drew his pair of yellow cards within minutes of each other to end the first half. Later in the second half, Trayvone Reid was yellow carded for a dive, leading to the referee eating his whistle when Reid took a tackle in the box moments later. Glinton spoke candidly about the head official.
“It was insanity,” Glinton said. “So, you’re gonna give a soft second yellow to a guy that is getting trampled? Fine, whatever. But looking and giving a yellow card for a dive and then missing the penalty. Every week it seems like the control of these matches are getting worse. And you can’t talk to these guys, they are quick to give out yellows if you’re even questioning decisions. We’ve had phantom VAR decisions earlier this year… I don’t want to continue harping on it, but its not even close to the standard and it’s not close to what the players deserve,” Glinton said.
- Dwyer’s start over Johnny
Glinton opted to make a change to the front line with Dom Dwyer getting his second start in an Oakland uniform for Johnny Rodriguez. The coach explained they felt Dwyer earned the chance to start.
“Today, we went with our 3-4-3/5-2-3. Dom had been working hard and doing well to earn a start, so I thought he’s tough to beat and tough to play against. The ability to have one start and one come off of the bench is big for us. And then there’ll be times that we switch things up and we can see them both,” Glinton said.
- Ivan Ornelas’ thoughts
We are going to look back at this game at the end of the season, which isn’t too far away, as a missed opportunity. It was a frustrating night for many reasons and the Oakland Roots gave it their best effort, but this result can likely confirm that the Oakland Roots will be traveling to their first round playoff match.
Starting Lineup
- Oakland Roots Starting 11
One big change, Dom Dwyer starts in place of Johnny Rodriguez on the bench. José Luis Sinisterra gets his first start while Rafa Baca makes his Roots’ debut on the subs list. Baboucarr Njie returns to the LW spot while Memo Diaz gets his first start as a new dad. Camden Riley and Danny Gomez step back into the midfield pivot, but Baca is expected at some point.
- San Antonio FC Starting 11
Timeline
GAME TIME! Can Oakland Roots get it done to stay in the top four?
Camden Riley is wearing the captain’s arm band for this matchup. He’s emerged as an important contributor almost immediately this season. – Ivan
SA goal – 4′
Dribble right in front, dink past Blanchette by Solginac. Not an impressive start.
4’ Ivan: Goal for San Antonio. An incisive pass put the San Antonio attackers in behind. Paul Blanchette made a point blank save but it fell to Luis Solignac who tapped it home. A poor start.
8’ First real involvement for SA keeper Richard Sánchez but the flag was up anyway.
Roots corner – 10′
leads to another
Roots corner – 11′
Roots free kick good area – 14′
Dwyer draws it about 10 yards outside area on right side. Njie skies whatever he was trying to do.
Ivan: Dwyer hasn’t had much to do yet today besides chase a ball 50 yards to go out for a San Antonio throw in.
18’ Ivan: Neveal Hackshaw is being used as an auxiliary forward in goal kicks. He was able to come in contact with Blanchette’s distribution in this case, but didn’t maintain control. He wanted a foul call but the ref said play on.
Dwyer shot deflects wide- 20′
great feed by Memo
Roots corner – 20′
Riley just misses on a header
20’ Ivan: The lack of execution in the attacking third is showing itself with a point blank chance wasted (even if it did yield a corner) and then the ensuing corner amounting to nothing.
Riley low ball toward Dwyer, keeper there to dive on it – 22′
Memo shot sails a shot on the volley – 24′
24’ Ivan: First time Njie has gotten into a dangerous position in the left wing, and then the service reaches Diaz who tries to shoot on the half volley. Not a bad effort but off target.
SA shot blocked – 27′
could’ve been a big chance
Roots corner – 31′
targets Hackshaw, can’t make contact on the header
Roots free kick – 34′
Ball in by Memo cycles around. Foul eventually called on Riley
Yellow on Solignac – 43′
Yellow on Cam
second yellow on Cam, he’s red carded.
45+2’ Ivan: Riley was lucky not to get booked for an earlier challenge but his luck ran out right at the end of the half.
45+3’ and beyond Ivan: Riley brought down by a San Antonio player who then got tripped apparently. The ref pulled out a yellow for both players which means Riley is sent off. That was a horrible call because his motion was caused by the initial foul. How the ref could give Riley a yellow there is ridiculous. The home supporters are incensed by this decision.
Firts half notes:
Cam draws a second yellow on a retaliation and gets sent packing. Oakland trails with 4 shots, 1 on target, and 64 percent of the ball. SA with 2 shots, 2 on target.
Ivan: The half started and ended poorly but the latter was not necessarily the Roots’ fault. San Antonio looked most dangerous in spurts on the counter. It’s a shame the Roots let one in early because now they are in an uphill battle.
Rasmussen blocked – 52′
Then a shot wide by Njie
Ivan 52’: Jose Sinisterra looks about as much of a complete player as you’ll see at this level. He provided good service to Dwyer in the box but he was crowded out by San Antonio defenders. Rodriguez should be coming on soon.
Hackshaw shot very high from distance- 55′
Hackshaw header wide – 58′
Nice feed by Rasmussen
SA shot high – 59′
57’ Ivan: Margvelashvili and co are doing a commendable job winning the ball high up the pitch especially down a player.
62’ Ivan: Somehow the ball got to Baboucarr Njie and he whipped a dangerous ball in, but the San Antonio right back and the keeper did enough to avoid conceding a corner.
Johnny coming on for Dom – 63′
Reid on for Sinisterra – 71′
70’ Ivan: Roots starting to turn the ball over in dangerous areas more frequently which San Antonio’s forwards are exploiting, bar the finishing touch.
75’ Ivan: For the second time this game, Hackshaw takes a speculative shot from outside the box and both times were significantly off target.
Hackshaw sails another- 76′
Roots corner – 82′
83’ Ivan: Another corner kick wasted as Sánchez punches it with little pressure. This is the last roll of the dice and the Roots are playing scared. Scared money doesn’t make money.
Chery on for Gomez – 84′
Koze shot jussssst wide. Best chance of the night – 86′
Reid goes down, no call – 87′
85’ Ivan: Reid with an effective pass inside to Donasiyano but despite the close range from goal, he puts it wide. Despite all of the shenanigans in this game, a lot of the blame can be placed on the Roots especially in the goalscoring department.
87’ Ivan: Another great cross by Reid punched out and no one is there to cash in the ricochet. Johnny Rodriguez won the ball up field but hasn’t often been in situations to impact the game off the bench.
89’ Ivan: To sum up the story of the ref tonight: Baca got a yellow card before making his Roots debut.
Roots with a lot of pressure, can’t find a clear chance – 90′
Tray cross hits crossbar – stoppage
Johnny flick shot out for a corner