Same Same But Different: Oakland 1-2 Las Vegas

 Live Soccer! After the adventure that was Oakland’s first two “home” matches, it was nice to finally see the team in person. Of course, nothing can ever go smoothly. A 7 p.m. kickoff time slowly became 7:10, and then 7:15. Oakland had yet to post a starting lineup to social media, one of the few things the club could be relied on to do in the early part of the season. Finally, a lineup was announced in stadium that included both Brandon Allen and Danny Flores. But the teams warmed up, and neither were on the field. Instead, they popped up among the fans on the south side of the bleachers. (Wal Fall also was a late scratch, but did not decide to watch the game anywhere near where the Blog was sitting.)

Finally, Roots post their lineup to Twitter. No bench players are listed, and the tweet says, cryptically, that the roster for the match is “limited due to league health and safety protocols.” The Blog does not have any on-the-record quotes, but in the year of our Lord 2021, “health and safety protocols” can mean only one thing: covid-19. 
So Jordan Farrell was apparently limited in what he could do, but he pushed the right buttons in the first half. Roots played a back 3, with Morad, Klimenta, and Kai Greene. Akeem Ward and Soya Takahashi filled the wing back roles, Ornstil, Mbumba, and Mfeka through the middle, and Tarn Weir and Memo Diaz up top.

The match got off to an inauspicious start: Vegas was awarded 2 free kicks within the first 90 seconds, and the second resulted in a point-blank shot, but Paul Blanchette, making his first start in goal, came up huge. The Oakland counter off the resulting corner kick was easily snuffed out, and the ensuing Vegas attack resulted in two corner kicks, the second of which, in the 5th minute, resulted in a free header, but Blanchette again stood tall.

After 6 minutes, Oakland started to impose themselves on the game. Regular readers of the Blog will not be surprised to learn that Oakland failed to do a whole lot with possession at first. 

But what’s that? Bah gawd, that’s Tarn Weir’s music! In the 24th minute, Tarn Weir is fouled in the middle of the pitch. Off the ensuing free kick we are treated to some lovely one-touch play in the Roots’ midfield. A cross into the box finds the chest of a Lights player, but Lindo Mfeka wins the second ball and finds Weir sprinting into the box:

First start, first goal for Tarn Weir ✅#OAKvLV | @oaklandrootssc pic.twitter.com/rBdjcwYtx7

— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) July 11, 2021

 

History. Tarn Weir becomes the first player from Oakland, California to score a regular season goal for the Roots.#KnowYourRoots pic.twitter.com/rQCZKiOAG2

— Oakland Roots (@oaklandrootssc) July 11, 2021

Oakland had the upper hand for the rest of the half. In attack, they generate some half chances around the 30 minute mark, and then a golden chance in the 36th minute, but Mfeka couldn’t get his feet sorted. In defense, Oakland did a wonderful job preventing Las Vegas from playing through the middle. Mfeka also joined the front line to apply consistent pressure and prevent Lights from cleanly playing any long balls. 

The magic was lost after halftime, however. Oakland began the half with a long stretch of possession, but showed a desire only to slow the tempo of the game down, almost certainly because they had no bench to speak of in this game. Las Vegas did not cooperate.

Lights identified the right side of Oakland’s back three as a weakness, and ran at it repeatedly. The first few runs seemed a little uncertain, but it didn’t take Lights long to crack open Oakland’s defense. In the 55th minute, Oakland allow a long through ball from the Vegas backline up to the forwards. Tarek Morad, covering a central run into the box, unwittingly plays Vegas winger Cal Jennings on side. Jennings, who the Blog covered in the preview, lofts a cross into the center of the box. Oakland fails to clear, and it ultimately falls to the Vegas captain, Danny Crisostomo, who thumps it home.

Vegas proceeded to turn up the temperature, and Oakland did not have a good answer. Lights sent runner after runner into the box, and forcing Oakland into some desperate situations. For their part, the Oakland backline could be heard repeatedly pleading with Kai Greene to drop back, and I don’t think its any coincidence that Vegas regularly found room in behind him as the second half wore on. Paul Blachette stood on his head to keep Oakland level.

In the 62nd minute, things start to get very dicey. Vegas striker Danny Musovski splits the Oakland back line with a run between Greene and Klimenta. Klimenta offers at the through ball to him only half-heartedly, and Musovski was in alone on goal. Greene got back to put some pressure on the striker, and Blanchette came out to close the run down beautifully. Unfortunately, Greene was worse for wear, injuring himself during his recovery run. He had to come out for Saalih Muhammad, who took his place along the back line.

The substitution did not change Vegas’s approach, as they continued to target to right side of Oakland’s back line. Oakland also decided not to press up on Vegas’s back line, so many of the long balls that went astray in the first half started finding their intended target in the second. In the 74th minute, the inevitable: a long ball from Vegas center back Mamadou Fall (one of the regulars on the shuttle between Lights and LAFC) pings a nearly inch-perfect long ball to Cal Jennings, who is running at Muhammad. Muhammad acquits himself well, forcing Jennings to take a shot from a tight angle, but Blanchette can’t corral the shot, and the rebound heads out. On the ensuing corner, Oakland fails to clear. The ball ping-pongs around the box before falling to Tony Leone, who slots it home.

That was essentially all she wrote. Vegas generate a couple more opportunities, but came up empty. Oakland started playing with extreme urgency around the 82nd minute, but couldn’t find a goal. 

Health and safety. The USL’s official statement is that “out of an abundance of caution, the teams and league have agreed to select a player pool for the match to align with health and safety protocols.” We here at the Blog are very curious about the phrase “out of an abundance of caution.” Is this caution something that can be dealt with by Wednesday? Were there inconclusive test results that perhaps can be followed up on? We don’t know what exactly is up, but everything with covid takes time, so we would like to know if an “abundance of caution” will limit Roots’ options for their Wednesday match against Phoenix Rising. According to Google, Roots’ only available bench options for this game were Muhammad and Matias Fissore, who exited the last match with what appeared to be a muscle injury, and probably was not a realistic option. Not to put too fine a point on things, but we’re going to need more players than that. Running the same 12-13 guys out in the Livermore heat three days from now is not a recipe for success.

More generally, this is the second match now in which something important hasn’t been decided until nearly game time by the league (or, at least, hasn’t been communicated to Oakland until nearly game time). The league needs to get its act together.

Performances to be proud of. For as disappointing as the result and several aspects of Roots’ performance were, truth be told I think there’s a lot Oakland can build on from this match. Akeem Ward, Lindo Mfeka, and Ariel Mbumba all had more spark in this game than in past games. Tarn Weir’s aggressive runs, especially in the first half, added a new dimension to the attack. But the Blog’s biggest shouts out have to go to Soya Takahashi and Paul Blanchette. Takahashi again showed an incredible motor, regularly getting all the way down the flank. He is not the best at playing the final ball into the box, and too frequently gets pushed into the corner, but he’s still making more happen on offense than just about anyone else at the moment. And Paul Blanchette, in his first appearance in goal, made several wonderful saves, keeping Oakland in the game longer than they had any right to be.

Corner kicks. This is way down the list of priorities for this team, especially since they don’t generate many corner kicks, but I think they should consider playing these short. Oakland are not a particularly tall team, so traditional corner kicks are just a recipe for opposing counterattacks.