Here are three things we learned from the game:
While many matches that end 0-0 are characterized by teams playing conservatively and bunkering down on defense, the Roots gave their best performance of the young season in Saturday night’s scoreless draw with the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Laney College.
Here are three things we learned:
At Their Best, The Roots Can Beat the USL’s Best
In their third match in eight days, the Roots played with skill and intensity against last season’s USL runnerup. They dominated possession and didn’t allow the Rowdies to build a sustained attack.
The Roots also created several good opportunities to score, but Tampa Bay goalkeeper CJ Cochran made four tough saves to enable his team to earn a point.
The first came in the 8th minute, when Óttar Magnús Karlsson’s cross found Charlie Dennis at the back post, but Cochran was able to push Dennis’s header out. Dennis pleaded his case with the assistant referee that the ball had crossed the line, but no goal was given.
On the subsequent corner kick, Cochran went into a full stretch to guide the ball away as an Oakland attacker lurked at the far post.
Another near miss came four minutes before halftime when Edgardo Rito made a run along the endline and found Karlsson for a one-timer at the near post that Cochran deflected away.
There were fewer chances in the second half, after both clubs had expended so much energy in the first. But there were several in the last few minutes before the final whistle.
Oakland nearly won the match in the 89th minute on a counterattack, when Edgardo Rito ran onto a ball into the penalty area, but Cochran met him and got a foot on the ball just as a reached it. And in the third minute of stoppage time Juan Azocar headed the ball into the net from close range, but was judged to be offside.
“To me the boys played an unbelievable game,” Head Coach Juan Guerra said after the match. “We must keep improving. We must keep pushing. There’s no way we should dominate the way we did tonight and be able to let teams go home with points in their pockets.”
Changes in the Backline Pay Off
This week Guerra made a switch to a three-man back line of Tarek Morad, Danny Barbir, and Alejandro Fuenmayor because both Wednesday’s opponent New Mexico United and the Tampa Bay Rowdies also play a three-man backline.
On Saturday the Roots held 58% of the possession and the whole club worked in tandem to smother the Tampa Bay attack.
The new formation also enabled the Roots to move Edgardo Rito to the midfield where his speed makes him a nightmare matchup for opposing defenses.
After the match, Guerra said that the club would continue to switch between a three-man and five-man backline, depending on the opponent.
Diaz Establishes Himself as #1 Goalkeeper
Benny Diaz made his third consecutive start in goal for the Roots. The 23-year-old is a native Californian who is on loan to the Roots this season from Club Tijuana in Liga MX.
On Saturday, he did not have to make a save until the 82nd minute, when he easily handled Sebastian Guenzatti’s shot from 25 yards out.
But Diaz saved the Roots from potential disaster by making two key saves late in the match. In the 88th minute, Juan Tejada dribbled the ball into the penalty area and fired a left footed shot that Diaz dove to deflect over the endline.
And Diaz made an even better save on the subsequent corner kick, deflecting away Kyle Greig’s header at the near post.
“Benny’s performance today was very good,” Guerra said. “I told him at the half, I said you haven’t had to block a shot in 45 minutes. I said good goalkeepers for top teams probably have to make two saves in the game. Make sure that you’re focused because if you need to make those two saves, you have to make them. So I’m just gonna go in and give him a hug because he definitely did.”
