The Oakland Roots were able to secure a point in the Western Conference table on Saturday night, June 7, as they played to a scoreless 0-0 draw versus visiting El Paso Locomotive FC at the Oakland Coliseum, in new head coach Benny Feilhaber’s debut at the helm.
The match began with an excellent scoring opportunity for the Roots right out of the gate, when a set piece cross from Panos Armenakas on the right side bent perfectly to find Peter Wilson who headed a pass to Julian Bravo right in front of the net. Bravo’s shot required an outstanding save to keep the match level in the opening moments.
Following this opportunity, El Paso began to play a bit of keep-away in the match, controlling possession for long stretches of time, and building a few decent scoring chances, but nothing truly threatening for Oakland netminder Kendall McIntosh.
Around the 30th minute of the match, the Roots began to settle in and find their stride in the contest, playing fundamentally sound soccer and moving the ball well up the field. This shift in momentum lasted for the rest of the first half as Oakland earned a few top notch scoring chances.
The match was still scoreless at halftime, but the Roots held the momentum as they headed to the locker room. They kept that momentum when they reentered the pitch for the second half and put together a number of high quality scoring chances.
One of their best came in the 60th minute when José Luis Sinisterra managed to beat the back line and get in behind the keeper. But Sinisterra couldn’t maintain his balance and lost his footing before getting a shot off.
Oakland’s momentum continued for the remainder of the match, easily earning the lion’s share of quality looks on goal. But despite looking like the better team for the final 45 minutes, neither side could find an advantage before the final whistle blew.
The 0-0 draw was still an impressive outcome for new head coach Benny Feilhaber’s debut, as the Roots earned a result for just their third time at home this season, and played to a clean sheet against one of the most prolific offenses in the USL Championship.
The Roots will head to Colorado Springs for a battle with the Switchbacks next Saturday, June 14, at 6 p.m. Pacific time.
Talking with the new head coach
After the match, new Head Coach Benny Feilhaber was asked to share his overall thoughts on the team’s performance and the results. (See video above for full comments.)
He started his comments by saying that a draw was “better than a loss, not as good as a win,” noting that wins obviously are crucial when the team is trying to get back into the playoff race and climb up the ladder. “So I’d give it a five out of 10 in terms of a draw.”
Regarding performance, Feilhaber said “the first half was not good… for one very simple reason—we couldn’t complete passes.” He noted that the team displayed excellent energy. “For the most part, we were organized defensively, with a couple exceptions in the game, but we just could not complete simple passes from A to B,” he said.
“When you’re killing yourself defensively to win balls and put yourself in good positions to attack, but then instantly you give the ball back to the other team, it’s deflating. …To be fair, I didn’t think any of the guys slowed down, which is probably what kept us at 0-0 at halftime, but it was very clear that that was the one thing that we needed to improve on in the second half. I thought the subs came in and made a massive difference.”
Feilhaber said he thought Jurgen and Gagi were both very, very good. Noting that Julian and Morey didn’t play poorly, he explained that “Gagi was just cleaner with the ball in possession, finding the right passes. And Jurgen, same thing. …He provided us not only a lot of defensive effort, but the ability to get forward and connect passes in the attacking half.”
The important thing, Feilhaber said, was that “at the end of the day, our whole team just looked more cohesive with the ball, and that allowed us to grow into the game.”
In terms of creation, the coach said, “I thought we had tons of chances. Could have easily gotten one of them and turned a draw into a win. But performance-wise, I think it was perfect in the sense that we saw the bad and the good, and now we can show these guys the things that we need to continue to improve on and the things that are working well.”
Regarding the recent coaching change, Feilhaber was asked what the response has been from the team. He replied, “Exceptional. I have zero complaints.” He said the players have been “very welcoming, very responsive. They want to learn. They want to get coached. They want to get better. Obviously, (they) want to win. Every athlete wants to win. And they’ve given me everything they had, I think, the entire week of training and today in that sense.”
Summary
Scoring:
- OAK: 0
- ELP: 0
Discipline:
- ELP: Roberto Avila 25’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Ali Elmasnaouy 47’ (yellow card)
- OAK: José Luis Sinisterra 74’ (yellow card)
- ELP: Eric Calvillo 87’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Kendall McIntosh, Julian Bravo (Gagi Margvelashvili), Wolfgang Prentice, Peter Wilson, Panos Armenakas (Justin Rasmussen), José Luis Sinisterra (Luis Saldaña), Tyler Gibson, Neveal Hackshaw, Morey Doner (Jürgen Damm), Kai Greene, Ali Elmasnaouy (Daniel Gomez)
Unused subs: Camden Riley, Raphael Spiegel, Ilya Alekseev
Line: Shots: 7 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 5 | Fouls: 19 | Offside: 0
El Paso Locomotive FC
Lineup: Sebastian Mora-Mora, Wahab Ackwei, Eric Calvillo, Frank Daroma, Amando Moreno (Frank Lopez), Ricardo Ruiz, Wilmer Cabrera, Roberto Avila (Roberto Coronado), Gabriel Torres, Alvaro Quezada, Arturo Ortiz (Kofi Twumasi)
Unused subs: Robinson Moshobane, Marco Canales, Daniel Carter Bodden, Memo Diaz
Line: Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 3 | Fouls: 14 | Offside: 1
