Game Notes: Oakland Roots Fall 1-0 To Galaxy II By PK

The Oakland Roots lost a narrow 1-0 battle to Los Angeles Galaxy II at Laney, watching its record dip to 7-6-10 with nine matches left in the season. It was a critically missed opportunity to pad points ahead of Sacramento Republic in 6th place at 26 points and tie Tacoma Defiance with 30 points. 

The Roots went into the night without two critical midfielders; Jose Hernandez was out due to card accumulation while Wal Fall picked up an injury. 

"They are the brains of our operation. We saw on Wednesday night what it does for the team when they are really humming. Mati came on and did a really good job in the #8 just finding that rhythm and you saw it right away with a couple of good created. It's challenging whenever you don't have those guys available, the team needs to step up and prove that other people can fill that role. There were moments we did, we just weren't sharp enough," said Ferrell. 

As a result, Los Angeles had a dominant day in the midfield. 

"The communication of the midfield in the first half was really poor. It was disjointed on the ball and they were closing down spaces off the ball; they felt like they were overloaded, it was very frustrating for them. We talked about it at halftime and in the second half we were a little bit better and we created quite a few chances playing through the midfield first and then being able to get the outside backs in. So it’s something we’ll go back to and look at what issues were in the first half and then come back next Wednesday," explained Ferrell. 

The match featured the debuts of FW Brian Brown and Joseph Nane, a natural midfielder, appearing in a defensive role. Brown's day was marked by several slips, including one in the penalty area in the 20th minute when Lindo Mfeka played a nice ball across the face of goal. 

"You saw in the first half a couple of moments where he was able to hold, connect, and make some good runs. He's also trying to find a rhythm with teammates, so there were some miscommunications in a couple of moments. What we didn't see from the wide positions was some good service, in the first half especially. In the second half, we wanted to give Bokila a look and change the system that LA was seeing. It's good to get Brian running with us, he'll get more chances that he'll like to see, there was just some miscommunication," said Ferrell of Brown's performance.  

As for Nane, Ferrell believes the veteran did well defensively at handling Preston Judd, Jorge Hernandez, and Jonathan Perez, but wants to see him develop on the offensive end. 

"He did really well defensively and controlling their top forwards. We went with three at the back tonight because we expected a diamond formation. I think JoJo did really well. When you pass the ball like we pass the ball, you're going to be making a lot of decisions as a center back," said Ferrell. 

"For him, being in that situation, we saw him sometimes caught in between two decisions. We'll look for him to continue progressing at that," said Ferrell. 

LA's goal from a penalty came in the 75th minute after Jonathan Perez drew a questionable foul by Emrah Klimenta--who has been one of the sharpest defenders in the league up to this point. On the play, Perez retrieved an attempted clearance by Max Ornstil, and after taking a step, Klimenta made contact with Perez's foot--resulting in the Los Dos forward diving. 

"They needed three points, and I thought we did well matching their intensity. Early, there were quite a few play-on rulings from the referee, and then he got really ticky-tacky in the second half. I think the PK was soft, to be honest. Did we get our foot on the ball? Yes. And the guy fell over, but that's not a PK," said Ferrell of the foul. 

But Roots pressed toward the end and had their chances in the final minutes. 

Jeremy Bokila, after subbing on at 62' for Brown, had a header opportunity skim off his head and wide of the net in the 88th minute. 

Then Kai Greene had back-to-back chances; in the 89th minute but his shot from atop the penalty area went straight to LA keeper Justin vom Steeg, while a free header at 90+1 also went into the arms of Vom Steeg. 

Player Ratings

    1.    Kai Greene, 7.5

Kai Greene was by far the best player on the pitch for Oakland Roots. He had two shots on target in the final couple minutes of the match but did pivotal work in the defensive area to keep LA off the board for much of the night, including a monumental slide tackle on Ethan Zubak right as he cocked back for a shot. 

In 90 minutes of action, Greene finished with 89 accurate passes at 96 percent accuracy, two shots on target, connected on eight of nine long balls, had four duels won, two clearances, one successful tackle, three aerials won, one interception, and two recoveries. 

    

    2.    Lindo Mfeka, 7.4

In 90 minutes of action, Mfeka recorded three shots with one on target, 37 accurate passes at 82 percent accuracy, connected on two crosses and one of three long balls, three key passes, had two duels won, two clearances, and one interception.

    3.    Max Ornstil, 7.2

In 84 minutes, Ornstil recorded 66 accurate passes at 87 percent accuracy, connected on 11 of 13 long balls, had two duels won, one clearance, drew two fouls, three interceptions, and six recoveries. 

    4.    Soya Takahashi, 6.9

In 70 minutes, Takahashi recorded 35 accurate passes at 83 percent accuracy, completed four of six long balls with one key pass. He also finished with two duels won, one clearance, one successful dribble, and five recoveries. 

    5.    Matias Fissore, 6.8

In 45 minutes, Fissore recorded two shots with one on target, 26 accurate passes at 74 percent accuracy, completed one of four long balls and had one key pass, to go along with three duels won, drew one foul, had two successful tackles in as many attempts, and had six recoveries.