It was a tumultuous night in Phoenix for Oakland Roots, beginning with a lightning storm that delayed the starting time of the match by 38 minutes and ending with a disputed penalty kick that sent Oakland away with one point where they desperately needed three.
Roots shocked Phoenix Rising FC by scoring three goals in the first 22 minutes of the first half, but the host side steadily chipped away at the lead, eventually earning a 3-3 draw at Phoenix Rising Stadium on Saturday night.
Oakland lost an opportunity that would have put them within striking distance of a cluster of teams who are all searching one of the 8 playoff berths in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, Phoenix entered the match undefeated in 6 consecutive matches, 5 of them ending as draws. They remain 6 points ahead of Roots and are currently in 7th place in the conference’s playoff race.
Oakland’s First Half Scoring Blitz
Oakland took the lead at the 42 second mark on Danny Trejo’s first goal in his first start since joining the Roots in mid-August. Trejo scored 19 goals for Rising during the 2023 season when Phoenix won the USL Championship.
Under pressure from Trejo, Phoenix goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky sent out a weak clearance that was intercepted by Danny Gomez. He pushed the ball forward to Trejo at the edge of the penalty arc. Rakovsky came out to try and cut down the angle, but Trejo took a half step and blasted the ball into the unguarded net.
Peter Wilson joined in with a pair of goals of his own, earning a brace to extend his recent scoring streak to 9 goals in his last 8 appearances for the Roots. The first came in the 9th minute, when Panos Armenakas intercepted a pass in the Oakland half, and delivered a long ball that Wilson caught up to 25 yards from goal. Wilson’s confident finish left Rakovsky no chance.
Armenakas was also a member of Phoenix’s championship team in 2023.
The Roots’ third goal was scored in the 22nd minute and featured the three players who had participated in the first two goals. Armenakas stole the ball from Collin Smith in the Roots’ half of the field. As he approached the Phoenix penalty area, a group of defenders followed, so he dished the ball off to Trejo, who dished it to Wilson for the finish.
For the remainder of the half, the Roots continued to look for goalscoring chances, following Head Coach Benny Feilhaber’s advice and were continuing to hunt for goals even with a large lead.
But Phoenix was also awakening. The first sign of real trouble came in the 45th minute, when Oakland goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel made a diving stop on a shot by Daniel Flores. But Spiegel couldn’t hold on the rebound and former Roots’ midfielder Charlie Dennis was in the right place to redirect it into the net.
Phoenix Makes Second Half Comeback
As the second half began, both clubs were continued looking for goals.
Phoenix came close in the 66th minute in a shot that emerged from a chaotic crowd in the box. Gagi Margvelashvili trapped the ball on the goal line, until Spiegel was able to clear it away.
Wilson looked as if he would be able to turn his brace into a hat trick in the 71st minute. It started with a goal kick from Spiegel that went all the way to midfield. Wolfgang Prentiss nodded the ball into Wilson’s path. Wilson won the ball from Axel Essengue and was one-on-one with Rakovsky. But this time, he shot wide.
Phoenix Gets a Point Late in the Second Half
The scoreline remained 3-1 until the 86th minute, when a free kick from Dennis from well outside the box curled around the wall, headed toward the near post. Spiegel got a hand on it, but it was already over the line.
The disputed penalty call came in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Phoenix’s Ihsan Sacko collided with Gagi Margvelashvili inside the six yard box. Both teams gathered in the Oakland penalty area to sort out the damage. In the end, Gagi was red carded, Spiegel was yellow carded, and Phoenix’s Daniel Flores received his second yellow card.
Rémi Cabral’s penalty kick was unstoppable, with a stutter step that enabled him to see where Spiegel was going, then a right footed shot to the bottom right corner of the net.
Next Matches
Roots travel to El Paso for a mid-week matchup with Locomotive FC on Wednesday, October 1st at 11 AM Pacific time. They return home on Tuesday, October 7 to face Hartford Athletic.
