Saturday night was about as good as it gets for Oakland Roots, blanking Phoenix Rising in a 3-nil clean sheet victory to move itself up to ninth-place in the Western Conference standings and five points back of the playoff line.
Roots opened the scoring early with a gorgeous series of ball movement up the left side capped off when Jesus de Vicente split two Phoenix defenders with a pinpoint through ball into the box to find Bruno Lapa at the end of a run. Lapa’s shot glanced off the keeper before finding the back of the net for his first goal in an Oakland uniform to give Roots a 1-0 lead.
Oakland doubled their lead in the 22nd minute thanks again to excellent passing in the attacking third, this time when Bertin Jacquesson took a through ball up the left side before driving the net and making a last second cross to Danny Trejo who redirected the ball past the Phoenix netminder and into the twine to make it 2-0.
Roots put the game to bed in the 71st minute when Bertin Jacquesson earned his second contribution of the night, this time with a goal of his own, and once again off an assist from De Vicente who curled a long lob into the box to find Jacquesson all alone with the strike on the far side to bring the lead to 3-0.
RootsBlog Players of the Match: Bertin Jacquesson & Jesus de Vicente
In about as complete a team performance as we’ve witness for Oakland Roots in 2026, we name Bertin Jacquesson and Jesus de Vicente our two RootsBlog Players of the Match recipients. Jacquesson logged a goal and an assist, while de Vicente notched a pair of assists.
For Jacquesson, his pair of contributions came in his second straight start at the left wing role, notably switching sides with Wolfgang Prentice. He now has three goals and three assists to his credit, finishing the game with two shots on target, two ground duels won, and one big chance created on 32 total touches.
“We see him in training, and we’ve talked about the final execution letting us down in many different games, so it’s been hammering him on that. In fairness to him, he’s more comfortable on the left side. The issue we had is Wolfy is also more comfortable on the left. When you have both, Bertin was sacrificing because we felt Wolfy could get in position to give assists to Peter. We basically inverted them and tried to have Wolfy cut inside like the pass he found [Danny] Trejo on and then Bert cutting in like the shot that fell to Trejo. Those are more of his natural tendencies,” coach Ryan Martin said.
“But in training, he’s direct to the goal. He’s very good isolated one-v-one; him and Danny are probably the two who can do that. He can stretch the game in behind, and can also play in the nine or out wide.”
As for de Vicente, his pair of assists puts him up to six this season, which ties him for 14th in the USL Championsip. He was instrumental on both goals; rolling a pass to Lapa for the first and sending an inch-perfect long cross into the box for Jacquesson to catch on the volley.
Veteran midfielder Tyler Gibson was complimentary of de Vicente following the match. He’s back to his usual left back spot after appearing on the opposite side momentarily in recent weeks.
“He’s got a great left foot and is comfortable on that side. He intercepted quite a few passes, and when he gets forward, he’s got a great left foot to put in a good ball. He did some damage on that side, and that’s his comfort zone. When its in his comfort zone, he can thrive the best,” Gibson said.
Energy shift going into the final stretch
Saturday’s win may have been the biggest of the season for Roots. Now five points behind eight-place San Antonio and the playoff line, Oakland hopes to be hitting its stride for the final four matches of the regular season and securing a playoff berth. The energy was high in the locker room after the match, hopefully providing the spark that the club has been desperately seeking.
“Oh we’re buzzing,” Martin said. “The guys are flying and excited. We knew this was coming and we’ve talked about this in frustrating moments over the last couple months; we kept believing that we’d try to get hot and get goals going. To do that without Peter Wilson and Neveal Hackshaw getting called up [to Trinidad & Tobago] at the last minute was awesome. The guys believe we can go anywhere and win,” Martin said.
Martin mentioned that they made some changes to their pre-game routine going into Saturday’s match.
“Today, we changed the routine where we met at the performance center on the way over to simulate what we do before road games. I think it helped based on my initial judgement,” Martin said.
Gibson was beaming a smile after the match, showing a clear energy shift that is going on within the locker room after its big victory.
“This is the second time all year where we go back into the locker room with everybody buzzing. That was a fucking shift,” Gibson said. “But now its done and we go again next week. We’re still not in the playoffs, but its a good start. We’ve had two very good weeks in a row, so we need to build on it. We’re not settled at all.”
Gibson knows this is the time of the season teams need to be playing their best. For Roots, it doesn’t just mean that its hot streak could push them back into he playoffs, but to potentially be a dangerous team in the postseason.
“This is the time of the year where you need to put it together,” Gibson said. “That is the type of performance that wins playoff games, when everybody is fighting and doing the dirty work. That’s the type of win that wins playoff games, not just tiki-taka and playing out of the back. That’s not this league, that’s not how you win championships. That performance is how you win championships.”
Tyler Gibson & the central midfield
Martin made the call to keep veteran midfielder Tommy McCabe on the bench, opting for Bobosi Byaruhanga to play opposite Gibson.
Did more without the ball
Gibson said it himself, saying “tiki-taka and playing out of the back” is not how teams win championships in the USL. On Saturday night, Roots did more without the ball, finishing with just 32 percent possession to generate four big scoring chances and 10 shots with eight of them on target.
Starting Lineups
- Oakland Roots
Just two changes for Oakland Roots from last Sunday’s game: Danny Trejo stepping in for Peter Wilson at the striker spot, while Tyler Gibson replaces Florian Valot — who exited last week’s game in the 26th minute. Aside from that, no changes. Wolfgang Prentice and Bertin Jacquesson provide Oakland’s width at the winger spots, Bobosi Byaruhanga is in the CM spot and I’m curious if he slots next to Gibson or Mark Fisher. Bruno Lapa returns to the CAM spot, Michael Edwards and David Garcia man the CB spots, Jesus De Vicente is back at LB, while the RB spot is either Gibson or Fisher.
- Phoenix Rising
Timeline
Fisher at RB, Gibson at CM – 1′
ROOTS GOAL WHAT A START – 7′
Great work down the left side with Jesus de Vicente feeding Bruno Lapa into the box for his first goal in an Oakland uniform.
PHX shot blocked leads to a corner – 11′
PHX corner – 12′
Ball falls in front of the net but Edwards clears it out.
PHX free kick – 20′
Big punch by McIntosh
ROOTS LAND A SECOND – 22′
ROOTS FIRST TWO-GOAL GAME SINCE JUNE. JACQUESSON WITH A GREAT BALL TO TREJO, AND A PERFECT FIRST-TOUCH FINISH
Corner – 27′
PHX corner – 31′
PHX free kick – 36′
About 10 yards above the box.
Shot trails narrowly wide.
First half notes:
Oakland leads with its first two-goal game since the last time they played Phoenix Rising back in June. Both with great goals by Bruno Lapa and Danny Trejo on finishes that looked like earlier moments in their USL careers. Roots with 3 shots, their 2 goals on target, on just 4 touches in the box and 34% possession. Phoenix with 3 shots, none on target, 5 touches in the box.
PHX corner – 50′
Another punch out by McIntosh. Foul on Phoenix.
Phoenix free kick along the left side – 52′
Phoenix centering pass blocked out for a corner – 55′
PHX corner – 56′
Jacquesson shot on target rebounds to Trejo, but a big double-save by Rakovsky – 58′
Should be 3-nil
Big save by McIntosh – 59′
Rebounds back into play, and Phoenix’s second attempt goes over the net.
McCabe on, Lapa off – 67′
ROOTS SCORE A THIRD – 72′
JESUS DE VICENTE WITH A BEAUTIFUL LONG CROSS INTO THE BOX TO FIND JACQUESSON IN BEHIND. Bertin bags his brace with a great finish on the volley!
McIntosh with a great diving save – 74′
Tips a curling shot onto the post and out for a corner
Jacquesson off for Lepley – 82′
Free kick along the left side – 83′
Bobosi sails a shot – 89′
PHX corner – 90+1′
Full Time! It’s a huge 3-nil win for Oakland Roots. They flip Phoenix to 10th and move up to 9th, now five points below the playoff line and San Antonio in eighth place