As if the electricity surrounding rivalry week wasn’t already enough to provide edge-of-your-seat action, world class goals, momentum shifts, and non-stop intensity turned Saturday’s USL Championship matchup in Sacramento into an instant classic, as the Oakland Roots scored a late equalizer to earn a point on the road in a 3-3 draw with Sacramento Republic FC.
It was clear from the initial whistle that this game was important to both sides, as the speed of the game seemed to be turned up to maximum levels with each team moving the ball well in the initial phases of the game.
The Roots were tilting the field in their favor early on, leading to an opening goal from Danny Gomez in just the 10th minute when Morey Doner played a cross in front of the net from near the top right corner of the box. Julian Bravo missed contact on a one-time attempt, but the ball fortuitously ricocheted off the knee of Gomez and carried enough momentum to trickle just inside the right goalpost to establish the score at 1-0 Oakland.
Sacramento wouldn’t play from behind for long, however. In the 17th minute, after drawing a foul just outside the top right corner of the Oakland penalty area, Rodrigo Lopez lined up for the free kick and curled an absolute worldie past a four-man Roots wall and into the back of the net off the hands of a diving Kendall McIntosh to tie the score at 1-1.
Oakland then reclaimed momentum, maintaining possession and hemming Sacramento into their own end for a decent stretch. This pressure nearly put Roots back in the lead when a long cross from the left side found Gagi Margvelashvili with a header on the doorstep, but it went right into the mitts of the Republic keeper.
Against the run of play, Sacramento took a 2-1 lead in the 33rd minute when excellent ball movement found Cristian Parano all alone in the Oakland box. Parano finished a well-placed chip shot over McIntosh to give Republic their first lead of the night.
Unfortunately for Sacramento, though, the Roots weren’t yet done in the first half.
A goal-of-the-year contender for Oakland leveled the match as stoppage time loomed, when Faysal Bettach sent a long lob into the box from halfway to the center line. Peter Wilson took a touch with his chest to settle the ball near the right post before sending a near-impossible angle strike into the top twine in the 45th minute to score a team-leading sixth goal of the regular season and tie the match again at 2-2.
The intensity of the first frame carried directly into the second half of the contest. Sacramento claimed a lead once again in the 54th minute when Russel Cicerone fired a pinpoint strike from just outside the top of the Oakland box that beat McIntosh cleanly to make it 3-2 Republic.
Oakland stepped on the gas for the remainder of the match, desperately scrapping to salvage at least a point in an airtight Western Conference playoff race.
After a prolonged period of heavy pressure in the attacking third, the Roots found their salvation in an 87th-minute corner kick. Panos Armenakas delivered a picture-perfect service into the box to find Jürgen Damm, who headed the equalizer home as regulation time neared its end to make the score 3-3.
Added time saw a continuation of the relentless Oakland attack that defined the final third of the contest, as the Roots came oh-so-close to completing a stunning comeback versus the league’s most sturdy defense, but the final whistle ended it with the sides still deadlocked.
While the draw was not the ideal outcome for a club fighting for playoff position, Saturday’s match can certainly be considered a moral victory, as the Roots found their attacking stride and looked like the better side for much of the fixture against one of the league’s better teams.
The Oakland Roots will remain on the road for their next league action as the club heads to Kentucky for a showdown with Lexington SC next Saturday, August 23, before returning home to close out the month of August with another California rivalry game, this time versus Monterey Bay FC on August 30 at the Coliseum.
Summary
Scoring:
- OAK: Daniel Gomez 10’
- SAC: Rodrigo Lopez 17’
- SAC: Cristian Parano 33’
- OAK: Peter Wilson 45’
- SAC: Russell Cicerone 54’
- OAK: Jürgen Damm 87’
Discipline:
- OAK: Bobosi Byaruhanga 26’ (yellow card)
- SAC: Khori Bennett 30’ (yellow card)
- SAC: Frederik Kleemann 38’ (yellow card)
- SAC: Lee Desmond 62’ (yellow card)
- SAC: Cristian Parano 79’ (yellow card)
- SAC: Juan Sebastian Herrera 81’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Gagi Margvelashvili 82’ (yellow card)
- OAK: Jürgen Damm 90’+ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Kendall Mcintosh, Julian Bravo (Wolfgang Prentice), Gagi Margvelashvili, Daniel Gomez (Ali Elmasnaouy), Peter Wilson, Panos Armenakas, Neveal Hackshaw, Bobosi Byaruhanga, Morey Doner (Jürgen Damm), Kai Greene (Camden Riley), Faysal Bettache (Danny Trejo)
Unused subs: Tyler Gibson, Raphael Spiegel, Thomas Camier
Line: Shots: 12 | Shots On Goal: 5 | Corner Kicks: 6 | Fouls: 13 | Offside: 1
Sacramento Republic FC
Lineup: Daniel Vitiello, Frederik Kleemann, Lee Desmond, Chibuike Ukaegbu, Rodrigo Lopez (Nick Ross), Blake Willey, Michelle Benítez, Jack Gurr, Khori Bennett (Juan Sebastian Herrera), Russell Cicerone (Ryan Spaulding), Cristian Parano (Lewis Jamieson)
Unused subs: Jared Mazzola, Aaron Edwards, Dominik Wanner, Justin Portillo, Rayan Djedje
Line: Shots: 5 | Shots On Goal: 4 | Corner Kicks: 2 | Fouls: 13 | Offside: 1
