For the second week in a row, Oakland Roots could not hold on to a second half lead and had to settle for a draw against one of the best teams in the USL Championship.
Last night’s 1-1 draw with Tulsa FC is particularly frustrating, since the club had the opportunity to gain ground on three of the teams that are ahead of them in the playoff race.
After the match, Roots Head Coach Benny Feilhaber commented on the result and its playoff implications for Oakland.
“I think [a 1-1 tie] was one of the fairest results, based on what both teams gave it,” Feilhaber said. “Does it help us much in the table? But I do think it’s a really good progression from our group, and I told them at the end, I think that we’re headed towards our goal. I just don’t know if we have enough runway anymore, so it’ll be interesting to see how we react in these next two games we have on the road.”
“I mean, at the end of the day, I think it keeps us in a place where you’re gonna have to go on a really good run in the last six games of the year, but it’s six games, right? I’ve seen many six game runs, I think, when I first got here, we went four out of five, right? Can we win four out of five and draw the last one? I think that’s probably enough to make it into the playoffs.”
Quick Start for Roots in the First Half
Oakland’s Wolfgang Prentice took the first shot on target in the third minute, beating a Tulsa defender to the ball from Ali Elmasnaouy. Goalkeeper Johan Peñaranda was unable to hang on to the rebound, but his defense quickly spirited the ball away.
Roots had another chance in the 15th minute, on an individual effort from Faysal Bettache, who received a pass 25 yards from goal and kept the ball away from a pair of Tulsa defenders as he made his run into the penalty area. His shot skipped off the turf, but went just wide.
Peter Wilson put Oakland on the board in the 23rd minute, scoring his 7th goal in his past 7 appearances. Prentice made a run down the left sideline and delivered a perfectly placed cross at Wilson’s feet. Wilson was tangled up with a Tulsa defender, but still managed to redirect the ball into the net.
“The last two goals here and then the last one against Charleston are very high level goals,” Feilhaber said. “The quality of the cross, the speed of the cross, the ball’s on the ground, the timing of the run, the finish itself. I mean, the finish on this one, if I saw it correctly, he makes a beeline in front of the defender. Again, you talk about the quality of the cross. If that power isn’t coming from the cross, he can’t do that in terms of just opening his foot up and passing it, almost making his foot into a wall where he escorts the ball in.”
“Throughout the whole year, I’ve been creating chances,” Wilson said. “It was a matter of scoring the goals. Yeah, to be honest, I feel like I know how to score, I know where, where to be, you know, and we’re playing a way where we get the ball out to the wide channels, and I know from there, okay, you should attack the box and attack the space, and once the ball gets there I’ll be first on it, so I feel like that has built up the confidence in me. Like, okay, you know what? I know I can do this. And now, the goals are coming.”
Tulsa’s first shot on target came in the 44th minute, when Alexander Dalou stepped up to a loose ball in the penalty area and fired a hard shot that backup goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel deflected over the endline for a corner kick. Less than a minute later, the visitors nearly scored on Abdoulaye Cissoko’s header that hit the crossbar, after Jamie Webber’s corner kick.
Quick Equalizer in the Second Half
Tulsa equalized in the 51st minute, when Taylor Calheira stripped the ball from Morey Doner along the sideline, dribbled the ball into the penalty area, held off Doner and Neveal Hackshaw, and beat Spiegel with a low shot that landed just inside the far post.
Oakland appeared to be in danger of giving up a potential game winner in the 57th minute, but Owen Damm’s one-timer landed in the side netting.
Wilson nearly scored another on a breakaway in the 59th minute, but Peñaranda made a diving save.
Calheira also had a chance for a brace in the 75th minute, but Spiegel made a diving save of his soft header from the edge of the 6-yard box.
Oakland’s final chance came in the 84th minute, when Wilson laid the ball off for Panos Armenakas, whose shot from close range went wide.
Quotes from Benny Feilhaber
“I thought we had some moments in the first half; even before the goal that that we looked like a very dangerous side, the aggressor in the game for the most part. I do think that the goal changes the game a little bit where we became a little bit more defensive-minded and this is something that takes time, it takes work, it takes confidence and we’re a team that’s still teetering. I think we’ve had some good results, and we’ve looked like a better team as of late. But at the end of the day, results go a long way into making a group of guys believe that they can continue to go after a second goal and not necessarily, you know, give up a tying one.”
Feilhaber was also asked about the close working partnership between Peter Wilson and Wolfgang Prentice.
“I think those guys had a chemistry before I even got here. I think that they played really well together. I know that I’ve utilized them in different ways than than they were playing before, but you can see that they understand each other’s tendencies, their runs, you know. Peter knows when Wolfie’s going to make that cross. So it’s been really good to see those guys gel and creating some really good chances for us.”
Feilhaber was also asked why the club benched Kendall McIntosh to give Spiegel his third appearance in USL Championship play this season.
“I think Kendall’s done really well for us,” Feilhaber said. “[But in] five games we’ve given up 10 goals. And just like we changed a little bit of the formation going into Charleston, I thought we needed a jolt, a little bit of new energy. And I thought Rafa did pretty well.
“I said Rafa was going to start, but from from here on out, the last seven games of active competition, it’s obviously being evaluated from the performance in the game but also in training.”
Quote from Peter Wilson
Peter Wilson was also asked about his connection with Wolfgang Prentice.
“Obviously, the more we play together, the more we understand each other. Me and Wolfie, I think we’ve got like 4 goals together. Getting a feel of what the other person thinks and it’s an instinct, like, okay, when he does this, where should I go? And also he knows like when I do this, where should I hit the ball, so I feel like we get along in a good way. Mostly, I’m just trying to leave the space as open as possible, because I know as long as that ball gets to the right space, I’ll be first on it. And that’s the only thing I really think about. Just know which place to attack and just try to attack it at a good time.”
Next Games
Roots’ next two matches are on the road, at Phoenix Rising FC on September 27
and at El Paso Locomotive FC on October 1. They return to the Oakland Coliseum on October 7 to take on Hartford Athletic.
