The Oakland Roots are moving on to the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup after defeating El Farolito by a score of 2-1 on Tuesday evening in Hayward, California.
Since their first U.S. Open Cup meeting in 2023, the two clubs seemed to have gone in opposite directions. While the Roots were playing their first U.S. Open Cup match of 2024, El Farolito had become a nationwide cult favorite when they became the first amateur team to defeat two professional teams in a single U.S. Open Cup tournament without requiring extra time.
The Roots recently had a three game losing streak in USL Championship play and their starting lineup on Tuesday featured four players who have never started a USL Championship match, as well as two who came on as substitutes.
“Last year we were a little bit deeper and healthier at this moment. We had the whole team. We didn’t have many youth players playing in that game last year,” Oakland Roots’ Head Coach Noah Delgado said. “We knew it would be a difficult game. The club and our philosophy is playing younger players, developing players, developing local. It was great to see them get in and contribute and play the game, especially a cup game, which was a little bit more intense than most of them had ever played in.”
“To me, it’s a wake-up call,” Farolito’s Head Coach Santiago Lopez said about his team’s success in the tournament. “It’s so beautiful how you could create a group that bonds and they worked so hard and they were fighting to the last minute. And these couple of weeks have really taught us as a group to stick together and you could basically achieve really awesome things, regardless of the systems that we have, you can still adapt and still compete and the U.S Open Cup is one of the examples.”
An Early Goal Stuns the Crowd
Oakland had the first scoring chance of the match in the 5th minute on a free kick by Justin Rasmussen from just beyond the penalty area. It sailed over the wall of Farolito defenders at a high rate of speed, but goalkeeper Johan Lizarralde was able to punch it away.
But Farolito had much of the possession early in the match, and they took the lead in the 12th minute when Dembor Benson scored his fourth goal of the tournament, topping off a series of short passes with a soft header that tucked inside the near post.
And less than three minutes later, Farolito’s Erik Arias had a shot attempt from close range, but it settled into the arms of Oakland goalkeeper Timothy Syrel.
But as the half went on, the Oakland offense began to assert itself. Oakland’s Haitian striker Miche-Naider Chéry had a chance in the 36th minute, but his curving ball sailed over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Chéry had another good look from just outside the penalty area, but his shot hit the post.
The Roots finally equalized in the first minute of first half stoppage time, when a cross from Ilya Alekseev found Memo Diaz sprinting toward the goal and Diaz twisted his body to head the ball into the net.
“It was tough to give up that goal early,” Delgado said. “We knew their game was based on service and getting the wide area before the box. We knew those spaces with our center back to spread them out and get the ball out wide and serve the ball. We knew you get chances by getting the ball wide and serving the ball.”
An Ejection Gives the Roots the Advantage
As the second half began, a giveaway by Rasmussen gave El Farolito a breakaway, but Benson slipped as he shot the ball and Syrel made a relatively easy save.
A turning point of the match came in the 51st minute, when Farolito’s Edgard Kreye received his second yellow card, forcing the visitors to play much of the remainder of the match shorthanded.
“It was just very frustrating,” Lopez said. “It was a bucket of cold ice basically to the whole team. But I feel that when they scored we still managed to show some character defending and then character in attacking as well. Even with a man down.”
Oakland nearly took advantage two minutes later, but Etsgar Cruz’s shot sailed inside the six-yard box sailed wide at the far post.
There were few chances in the second half, as the game got bogged down in dramatic injuries and disputes with the referee. And so the match remained tied, necessitating 30 minutes of extra time.
The Game-Winner Comes in Extra Time
The game-winning goal was scored in the 98th minute by nineteen-year-old Ali Elmasnaouy, making his professional debut. It came off of a cross by Rasmussen, which bounced off of a Farolito defender and an Oakland attacker before Elmasnaouy slotted it home.
“Yeah, I mean it was super special,” Elmasnaouy said after the match. “I was lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right moment and was lucky enough to score. Great cross came in. Everybody was fighting for it so I was lucky to be in that spot. The team fought hard and the team played well and we deserved it.”
When asked what advice his teammates had given him, Elmasnaouy had a brief response.
“It was pretty much like just ‘stay in that little pocket.’ Try to find a goal. We’re trying to get goals, so just kind of stay high up the field, try to get your goal and uh, yeah, I was lucky enough to be able to get one.”
But Farolito wasn’t done yet. In the 106th minute, a one-timer by Jorge Murillo was on target, but Syrel made the diving save.
And Benson nearly had one more heroic moment in the waning moments of the extra session’s first stopping time. He got behind the Oakland defense and had a wide open net in front of him, but his chip bounced wide.
In the 106th minute, Oakland’s Trayvone Reid received his second yellow card and the sides were once again even, 10 versus 10.
Farolito brought more players forward, but this only resulted in a half chance for Gabriel Arias in the 116th minute.
Oakland’s Johnny Rodriguez, a second half substitute, had a breakaway less than a minute later, but was unable to get a shot off cleanly.
“They’re a very strong side, very organized,” Lopez said after the match. “We ended up naturally just holding a little bit more, sitting back on our defensive third. We thought we could pull it off, but unfortunately, you know, they managed to find those spaces in the outside and sending in those crosses. Those two goals came in through the cross, that’s what defined the game. And the couple of chances that we had, we just weren’t able to put them in.”
While Farolito’s Cup run has ended for 2024, the Roots move on, perhaps to a date with the MLS’s San Jose Earthquakes.
“I love it,” Delgado said. “I love this cup. You know, as a player I was in this cup a couple times with Rochester, and in Puerto Rico, I was in the CONCACAF Champions League for four or five years. So I’ve always had the underdog role with that as a player and I think this is a special cut here and I’d love to see [the Roots play] an MLS team.”
