Oakland Roots fell 2-nil to Lexington SC on Wednesday, conceding a pair of second-half goals to drop to seventh place in the USL Championship Western Conference. The result put Lexington up to sixth and equal points with Roots at 21, while Oakland is now one point above eighth-place Sacramento and ninth-place Phoenix Rising, two above El Paso Locomotive in 10th, and three from 11th-place Las Vegas Lights.
After going into halftime in a 0-0 tie, Lexington broke through with two goals in less than 15 minutes. Phillip Goodrum got the home side on the board in the 50th minute after redirecting a sharp ball from Nicolas Firmino. 13 minutes later, Lexington struck again on a counterattack following a Roots corner, where a 3-on-1 rush resulted in Blaine Ferri chipping a ball over Kendall McIntosh.
Roots have just three days now to regroup, as they face a quick turnaround for their next match at the Oakland Coliseum versus NorCal rivals Sacramento Republic FC this Saturday, July 25.
Here are our talking points from Wednesday.
Missed chances and mistakes kill game
Both of Lexington’s goals came off of mistakes by Oakland Roots on the offensive end.
The first came after Florian Valot took a heavy touch after Bobosi Byaruhanga played him a pass, then desperately tried to play a pass back to Bobosi. In the process, Braudílio Rodrigues stole possession in Oakland’s defensive half and sent a ball to the would-be assister, Firmino.
That’s when the Brazilian sent a rocket toward Goodrum in between Michael Edwards and Neveal Hackshaw, getting a foot on the ball to put it into the net from 12 yards.
Lexington’s second goal came immediately following a corner by Oakland, where a defensive header fell to Tucker Lepley about 10 yards above the box all alone. Lepley looked like he was squaring up to shoot, but in a hesitant moment, cut back to the right side. That’s when Ferri put in a tackle to foot the ball to Goodrum, starting a counterattack in the process.
Because of the mistake, Bobosi found himself in no-man’s land defending a 3-on-1 rush the opposite way.
But Roots’ woes went past its own self-inflicted errors. They also struggled on the offensive end.
Peter Wilson had a clear chance in the 19th minute. Hackshaw sent a long pass to Tingey in the box, who headed a ball past Lexington CB Javain Brown to put Wilson through into the six-yard box. Wilson attempted to power the ball into the net, shooting it into Oliver Semmle’s chest.
Wilson had another opportunity later in the 54th minute when Tingey played him in behind. Wilson won possession and took a touch past Semmle far off his line, but a heavy foot took him too far wide. The Roots’ striker had another look three minutes later, sending a shot on target from outside the box that was saved by Semmle.
Oakland’s best chance to score came in the 85th minute, but again came up empty.
This time, Wilson made a great run from around the midfield line to free himself up in behind. He sent a centering ball to Danny Trejo running unmarked into the box. Trejo attempted to take a shot on his first touch, but he couldn’t put the ball wide of Semmle, resulting in a save with his feet.
Roots staring at another late-season drop
There’s one thing Roots fans have become accustomed to: the late-season drop. Oakland is just past the midway mark of its season, watching the club go from third place in early May to threatening to drop out of playoff contention in late July.
Since their 2-1 win over El Paso on May 9, Roots have picked up four out of 21 possible points.
Although injuries ravaged the roster through the early portion of the schedule, perhaps the largest contributing factor to their drop has been the inability to identify a third goal scorer behind Wilson and Wolfgang Prentice. Oakland has taken its most swings in its roster build on the attacking side behind the duo, but nothing has proven fruitful thus far.
Trejo has been touted as a prolific scoring threat throughout his time in the USL Championship, but has amassed just one goal in 627 league minutes. His three big chances created per game this season rank in the top 24 percent of players at his position, but his conversion rate is plummeting, and it’s fair to wonder if there’s hope to turn things around.
Valot was another big swing by the club, but he’s struggled to live up to the productivity he showed under Ryan Martin while at Loudoun United. He also has just one goal in over 600 minutes, and although his three big chances created are in the top 22 percent of attacking midfielders. He also had a missed chance in the 83rd minute on a loose ball in the box.
More offensive players who haven’t panned out thus far are Bertin Jacquesson, while Lepley has struggled to make a mark since his debut goal against El Paso. Of the players mentioned, Jacquesson leads the batch with two goal contributions, while each of Valot, Trejo, and Lepley has contributed just one goal.
It begs the question of whether Roots can find one more attacker to figure out its puzzle, or if the investment to the front line has been far too great already.
Starting Lineups
- Oakland Roots
Roots have two changes since their last league match at New Mexico. Peter Wilson returns to the starting lineup, Florian Valot is back as well. Aside from that, no changes. Wolfgang Prentice returns to the left wing spot. Julian Bravo to the bench; Bobosi Byaruhanga and Tommy McCabe make up the midfield pivot; Michael Edwards and Neveal Hackshaw return to the CB spots; Keegan Tingey and Jesus de Vicente are the full-back combination; while Kendall McIntosh returns in goal.
- Lexington SC
Timeline
Lexington corner – 5′
punched away by McIntosh
Rots 75% possession – 11′
Wilson near chance in close distance – 19′
Long ball from Hackshaw to Keegan Tingey, heads it to Wilson but the striker’s shot goes straight into the keeper.
Corner – 20′
leads to another
Corner x2 – 20′
Plays shot, goes back to De Vicente. Ball cycles to McCabe but his shot is blocked.
Lepley shot from distance goes wide – 21′
Lexington free kick – 23′
Ball punched away from McIntosh
Valot steals ball high off a mistake but it leads to nothing – 27′
Wilson tries to feed Valot into the box, but he’s offside.
Lexington free kick – 28′
About 15 yards above the box. Molloy shot into the wall.
Lexington low ball into the box, McIntosh there to jump on it. Leads to a foul on Goodrum – 39′
Lexington’s Firmino shot outside the box hits the post – 42′
First Half notes:
Pretty even first half with both sides having one clear chance. Peter Wilson with a shot near the six-yard box that went straight into the keeper, while Lexington had a shot from outside the box clang off the post. Oakland with near 60% possession, 3 shots, 1 on target, and 4 touches inside the box. LEX with 4 shots, none on target, 10 touches inside the box.
Prentice sends a dangerous pass toward the net, grabbed by the GK – 47′
Lexington goal – 50′
Ball stolen from Valot in Roots zone. Firmino fires a ball towards the net, and Goodrum puts a touch on it to redirect the ball into the net. Tough ball to stop, bad giveaway leads to the goal.
Wilson puts himself in behind but does nothing with it – 54′
Dribbles down near the end line but never pulls the trigger on a pass or shot
Wilson shot on target from outside the box – 57′
Dangerous shot, takes a deflection. Very good save.
Corner – 59′
Corner – 63′
Good work by Wolfgang to draw it. Long dribble down to the end line.
Leads to a Lexington counter and a goal.
Lepley tried to hold the ball near the top of the box and Lexington breaks the other way with 4 against one, leading to Ferri scoring a chip. Really bad goal.
Trejo and Jacquesson enter – 65′
Lepley and Prentice exit.
Goodrum shot wide – 74′
De Vicente taken off for Bravo – 81′
Came off with a limp
Lexington gives up ball in the box, Valot’s shot deflected – 83′
Missed chance there, draws a corner
Corner – 83′
leads to nothing
Trejo free in behind but his shot goes into the keeper, another good stop – 86′
Wilson frees himself up in behind and centers the ball to Trejo, but he can’t put it away. Another missed chance. Very disappointing attempt.
Bettache and Kiil on – 88′
Wilson and Valot off.
Bravo flicks on toward net causes a diving save – 90+3′
Corner – 90+5
Rough loss. Roots fall to 6th in the western conference, just one point from 8th, two points from dropping out of playoff contention.