The Roots controlled more than 70% of possession during their match with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds but conceded the night’s lone goal to the visitors, who retained their undefeated record versus Oakland in the five-game all-time series on Saturday night, August 1, at the Oakland Coliseum.
The match began as much of the rest of the contest would follow, with Oakland dominating the possession game and spending much of their time on the attacking buildup, but failing to generate scoring chances.
Pittsburgh opened the scoring when a few missed clearance opportunities in the Roots’ defensive third led to a point blank volley from Eliot Goldthorp in the 20th minute, making it 1-0 Riverhounds.
Oakland then picked up right where they left off, playing keep-away from Pittsburgh, who continued to stifle the Roots’ attacking hopes. When all was said and done, Oakland failed to register a shot on target, and now have just one shot on goal across their last two matches.
The Roots will have to retool in short order, as they hit the road to face the Las Vegas Lights this Wednesday, August 5, 7:30 p.m.
Talking with the head coach
After the loss, Roots Head Coach Ryan Martin said, “I thought we started the match well, and then we made a few errors leading into the goal. I haven’t had a chance to look back at if it was interference or not, but I think it’s important that we make our own luck, and we could have defended the box significantly better in that action.”
About the Roots not scoring at all, Martin added, “You’ve got to break down a low block, and then it becomes execution. It becomes commitment to score and get in the box, and it becomes playing with more tempo and assertiveness to try to get in behind and create chances.”
The head coach noted that even though he was “frustrated with the result,” he thought the Roots “did a lot of things really well.” However, he said, “There’s a lot of things we need to continue to hammer and clean up, and we keep going.”
Summary
Scoring
- PIT: Eliot Goldthorp 20’
Discipline
- PIT: Eliot Goldthorp 9’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Michael Edwards 70’ (yellow card)
- PIT: Daniel Griffin 88’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Kendall McIntosh, Tommy McCabe (Bertin Jacquesson), Bobosi Byaruhanga (Jackson Kiil), Wolfgang Prentice, Peter Wilson, Florian Valot, Jesus De Vicente (Julian Bravo), Neveal Hackshaw, Keegan Tingey, Tucker Lepley (Danny Trejo) (Faysal Bettache), Michael Edwards
Unused subs: David Garcia, Raphael Spiegel, Jonathan Polio, Luka Rosić
Line: Shots: 7 | Shots On Goal: 0 | Corner Kicks: 4 | Fouls: 7 | Offside: 0
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Lineup: Nicolas Campuzano Jimenez, Lasse Kelp, Joao Victor Souza (Guillaume Vacter), Owen Mikoy, Albert Dikwa Lega (Trevor Amann), Charles Ahi (Brunallergene Junior Etou), Maximilliano Viera, Charles Mertz, Yu Tsukanome (Samuel Bassett), Eliot Goldthorp (Perrin Barnes), Jack Waiti (Daniel Griffin)
Unused subs: Aldair Flowers, Michael Sheridan
Line: Shots: 6 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 0 | Fouls: 10 | Offside: 0
