The Oakland Roots sat back and absorbed pressure for most of the opening 45 minutes of play Tuesday night as they took on the MLS San Jose Earthquakes in the U.S. Open Cup. The home side Earthquakes did not threaten the goal of Paul Blanchette for most of the opening period.
The Roots best chances of the first half fell in the final five minutes as both Jeciel Cedeño and Johnny Rodriguez had dangerous efforts, causing last-minute blocks from San Jose to keep the game scoreless into the half.
San Jose made some tactical changes heading into the second half to cope with Oakland’s system, allowing them to be on the front foot for most of the second half. That pressure led to San Jose’s goal from Ousseni Bouda in the 76th minute, giving the home side the only score in the match, for a 1-0 lead.
The situation was made more difficult for Oakland in the 82nd minute, when Roots striker Johnny Rodriguez was shown a red card, giving the Earthquakes both a man and a goal advantage until the end of the game as they went on to close it out for a 1-0 win.
The Roots will now return to USL play, heading to New Mexico on Saturday, May 11.
Summary
Scoring:
- SJ: Ousseni Bouda 76’
Discipline:
- OAK: Justin Rasmussen 19’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Neveal Hackshaw 25’ (yellow card)
- SJ: Ousseni Bouda 59’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Johnny Rodriguez 82’ (red card)
- SJ: Preston Judd 84’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots
Lineup: Paul Blanchette, Justin Rasmussen (Etsgar Cruz), Niall Logue, Gagi Margvelashvili, Memo Diaz, Bryan Tamacas, Neveal Hackshaw (Napo Matsoso), Daniel Gomez (Camden Riley), Irakoze Donasiyano (Miche-Naider Chéry), Jeciel Cedeño (Lindo Mfeka), Johnny Rodriguez
Unused subs: Ilya Alekseev, Timothy Syrel.
San Jose Earthquakes
Lineup: Emi Ochoa, Paul Marie, Tanner Beason, Daniel Munie, Jamar Ricketts (Tommy Thompson), Alfredo Morales (Jackson Yueill), Niko Tsakiris, Hernan Lopez (Ousseni Bouda), Benji Kikanovic, Jack Skahan (Michael Baldisimo), Preston Judd
Unused subs: Jacob Jackson, Casey Walls, Cristian Espiniza
