Game Notes & Player Ratings: Oakland Roots Wins NorCal Derby 2-1 Over Sacramento Republic

The Oakland Roots brought home three points with a 2-1 victory over Sacramento Republic on Wednesday night at Laney College. The win improves their record to 9-7-11 and catapults the club into fourth place with 34 points, three points behind OCSC. 

Oakland now prepares for an away match at Phoenix on Saturday, while LA Galaxy II can do Roots' a favor by losing Vegas on Friday. OCSC and Tacoma also play on Oct. 9.

It was a chippy and physical affair between Oakland and Sacramento all night, with the Roots' claiming the NorCal Derby season series with a 1-3-0 record. It's the formula for a budding California soccer rivalry, and the June 19 mishap was undoubtedly still on the minds of players, coaches, and front office members. 

"It's a good way to wrap up the series against them. Obviously, every single game is a battle. I think the majority of our squad was healthy and available for the first time; it makes a big difference. We also showed better mentality tonight than we did on Saturday. That's the progress we want game-to-game, now we focus on Phoenix," said technical director and interim head coach Jordan Ferrell. 

Emrah Klimenta finishes as the Man of the Match with his header goal in the 63rd minute. It was his first goal since 2017 while a member of the Sacramento Republic. 

With the game at 2-1, the defensive leader mentioned that they weren't sweating the final minutes--instead increasing their focus after dropping points against Las Vegas. 

"It wasn't nightmares, no. If anything, it made us focus even more. The objective was to get a win and nothing less. When we went up 2-1, everyone was pointing to their heads and saying 'mentalty, we're not giving it up anymore.' This was ours to win and that's exactly what happened. We dropped guys in, they pushed guys up, and we were there getting first to the ball and having each others backs," said Klimenta. 

"We talk about mentality on this team a lot, we showed it tonight to close it out," said Klimenta. 

Roots' first goal came in the 10th minute when Wal Fall, standing about 10 yards before midfield, perfectly played a ball over the top to Quincy Amarikwa charging unmanned through the Republic's defense. 

In the play, Sac's Hayden Sargis pressed Jose Hernandez expecting Fall to play him. Instead, Fall eyed Amarikwa making his run in the space between two defenders--Quincy Time. 

When is it ever not Quincy Time, fam!?@QuincyAmarikwa with the finish off the beautiful pass from @WalFall17.

1-0 | #OAKvSAC pic.twitter.com/xUACl7R5Hf

— Oakland Roots (@oaklandrootssc) October 7, 2021

But Sacramento responded when Jaime Villareal played a pass through the defense and into Darek Formella in the 31st minute. Formella hit his unbalanced shot just a few feet in front of Paul Blanchette, who made contact with the ball but wasn't enough to prevent it from trickling in. 

With the score 1-1 at the half, momentum seemed to be swinging toward Sac with them holding Roots to just one shot compared to their seven with one on target. However, Oakland came out swinging in the second half--improving that mark to 10 shots with five on target in the final 45 minutes. 

Roots third goal came in the 63rd minute on a perfect looping header by Klimenta. In the buildup, Oakalnd drew a free kick about 10 yards above the area on the left side, and the ball trickled to Matias Fissore after Hernandez played a pass in from the set piece. 

Fissore, with eyes on Klimenta calling for the pass, sent in the perfect ball. 

That's the Bay Area legend, Emrah Klimenta, y'all.

2-1 | #OAKvSAC | @EmrahKlimenta pic.twitter.com/yy1XmUegOf

— Oakland Roots (@oaklandrootssc) October 7, 2021

Phoenix had one more attempt in the 83rd minute from Dan Casey putting a header on net but his shot didn't have enough power on it.

Player Ratings via FotMob.com

For the first time in 2021, all of Roots' 10 starting outfield players finished with a FotMob.com rating above 7.0. Oakland's starters averaged a rating of 7.67. 

    1.    Emrah Klimenta, 8.4

Klimenta earns FotMob's Man of the Match with an 8.4 official rating. 

In 90 minutes, Klimenta scored once and recorded two shots (both on target), completed 53 passes (82 percent), 5/10 long balls, eight duels won, three clearances, one successful dribble, one successful tackle, five aerials won, and nine recoveries. 

    2.    Matias Fissore, 8.1

In 90 minutes, Fissore recorded one assist, completed 44 passes (80 percent), 1/1 on crosses, 6/10 long balls, two key passes, two duels won, three clearances, drew one foul, one successful tackle, three interceptions, and 12 recoveries. 

    3.    Akeem Ward, 8.1

In 90 minutes, Ward completed 30 passes (81 percent), 4/6 long balls, 13 duels won, one clearance, 3/4 successful dribbles, drew three fouls, 4/6 successful tackles, one aerial won, three interceptions, and 10 recoveries.

    4.    Wal Fall, 7.9

In 90 minutes, Fall recorded one assist, completed 36 passes (77 percent), one chance created, completed 1/1 long balls, one key pass, 12 duels won, one clearance, one successful dribble, drew four fouls, and two successful tackles, four aerials won, one interception, and three recoveries. 

    5.    Lindo Mfeka, 7.8

In 89 minutes, Mfeka completed 29 passes (81 percent), 1/1 long ball, one key pass, nine duels won, 2/2 successful dribbles, drew four fouls, one successful tackle, one interception, and 10 recoveries. 

    6.    Jose Hernandez, 7.5

In 90 minutes, Hernandez recorded one shot on target, completed 49 passes (74 percent),  3/9 long balls, three key passes, four duels won, one clearance, one successful dribble, drew one foul, and eight recoveries. 

    7.    Kai Greene, 7.4

In 90 minutes, Hernandez completed 49 passes (84 percent),  6/13 long balls, two key passes, two duels won, six clearances, drew one foul, one successful tackle, and five recoveries. 

    8.    Johnny Rodriguez, 7.3

In 89 minutes, Rodriguez recorded five shots with two on target and one blocked, completed 14 passes (82 percent), 1/1 long ball, 10 duels won, one clearance, drew four fouls, one successful tackle, four aerials won, and four recoveries.

    9.    Quincy Amarikwa, 7.1

In 84 minutes, Amarikwa scored once and recorded two shots with one on target and one attempt blocked, completed 14 passes (82 percent), one chance created, six duels won, drew three fouls, 1/1 on successful tackles, and two aerials won. 

    10.   Memo Diaz, 7.1

In 75 minutes, Diaz completed 22 passes (73 percent), 1/5 long balls, six duels won, one clearance, 2/3 successful dribbles, drew one foul, 2/3 on successful tackles, one interception, and five recoveries.