The Oakland Roots came into Sacramento and scored three impressive goals. Unfortunately, that was on June 2nd, which was also the last time the Roots scored a goal. Their 35-day, 4-game, 384-minute scoreless streak continued on Wednesday with a nil-nil draw against the Sacramento Republic.
The first half was a continuation of Oakland’s woes on offense. Despite possessing more of the ball, the Roots did not attempt a shot. Sacramento had ten shots, three on target, several that required the skills of Oakland backup goalkeeper Taylor Bailey to keep the scoresheet blank at halftime.
His best saves were on forward Tucker Bone. In the 26th and 45th minutes, the Republic forward got behind the Roots defense forcing Bailey to make two excellent saves from shots inside the box.
“Honestly, he was incredible, not just the performance as a goalkeeper but psychologically,” remarked Roots head coach Jordan Ferrell after the game. “What he has been through in the last year, with the injury and COVID-19, then coming into the preseason and earning a spot. He really has earned everything, and he proved it tonight.”
The second half wasn’t much better for the Roots. Sacramento attempted nine more shots while Oakland attempted three, with the only long-range shot-on-target being easily saved by the Sacramento keeper. The final result was another scoreless game for the Roots, now extending four games in a row.
Afterward, Baily was proud of keeping a clean sheet in his first USL start and earning his team a point.
“”It was amazing. It was good to get it away too against a good team,” said Bailey. “They were on the attack a lot, but we all held it down. I could not be happier.”
Oakland will look to figure out how to get some meaningful attacking possession and score a goal with a three-game homestand coming up at their temporary home at Las Positas College in Livermore. Their first game is against Las Vegas Lights on Saturday, July 10 at 7 pm.
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Douglas Zimmerman curates the Beautiful Blog, which covers the ‘beautiful game’ of soccer in the Bay Area and worldwide. He recently released a photo book documenting the fans of the World Cup that he started in 2002.
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