On a hot and humid Saturday night at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, the Oakland Roots earned their first victory under head coach Benny Feilhaber as they outlasted Legion FC 1-0 on June 21, thanks to a 55th-minute penalty kick from Kai Greene.
The match started out sluggish for both sides, as early turnovers and clumsy touches were prevalent through the first 20 minutes.
Birmingham settled into the match first and began to earn some decent scoring opportunities. Perhaps their best of the match was a 29th-minute strike in close from a wide-open Legion attacker following a corner kick that required a spectacular save from Oakland’s keeper Kendall McIntosh.
Oakland started to come alive late in the first half, finding their footing in the match and routinely getting in behind the Birmingham defense. The Roots found twine when a bad play on the ball from the Legion backline led to an odd-man break for Oakland. Jürgen Damm rushed up the left side alone and played a last-second cross in the box to Peter Wilson, who fired it into the back of the net, but did so in an offside position, so the goal was disallowed.
It didn’t take any time at all for the Roots to warm up in the second half, as the squad picked up right where they left off, finding space in the passing lanes and working balls into soft areas of the Birmingham backline.
This pressure finally paid off in the 53rd minute when a great cross into Ali Elmasnauouy from Morey Doner led to desperation contact in the Birmingham box from a Legion defender, drawing a penalty kick. Kai Greene was the man at the dot, stutter-stepping into his lead-up and burying the PK try towards the right side to give the Roots a 1-0 lead and end their three-game scoring drought.
The Roots continued to suffocate Birmingham for a majority of the second half, killing time while coming close to doubling their lead on a number of occasions. A late push from Legion was handled well by Oakland as the Roots held the lead until the final whistle to earn their first league victory since May 10.
“I thought it was an excellent second half,” head coach Benny Feilhaber said after the game. “I thought we started kind of like we ended the first half. Forward facing, forward runs, getting on the end of things—that’s how we create the action that leads to the penalty.”
It’s now back to USL Jägermeister Cup action for Roots as they return to Oakland to face Monterey Bay FC in a Group Stage fixture at the Coliseum on Saturday, June 28, at 7 p.m.
Summary
Scoring
- OAK: Kai Greene 55′
Discipline
- BHM: Edwin Laszo 1’ (yellow card)
- BHM: Daniel Trejo 58’ (yellow card)
Oakland Roots SC
Lineup: Kendall Mcintosh, Gagi Margvelashvili, Wolfgang Prentice (Ilya Alekseev), Peter Wilson (Panos Armenakas), José Luis Sinisterra (Daniel Gomez), Tyler Gibson, Neveal Hackshaw, Jürgen Damm (Julian Bravo), Morey Doner, Kai Greene, Ali Elmasnaouy
Unused subs: Camden Riley, EJ Johnson, Raphael Spiegel
Line: Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corner Kicks: 6 | Fouls: 11 | Offside: 3
Birmingham Legion FC
Lineup: Matt Van Oekel, Phanuel Kavita, AJ Paterson, Jacob Rufe, Moses Mensah (Sebastian Tregarthen), Stephen Turnbull, Edwin Laszo (Tyler Pasher), Kobe Hernandez-Foster (Samuel McIllhatton), Daniel Trejo (Preston Tabort Etaka), Enzo Martinez, Ronaldo Damus (Sebastian Saucedo)
Unused subs: Santiago Suarez, Fernando Delgado
Line: Shots: 6 | Shots On Goal: 2 | Corner Kicks: 8 | Fouls: 14 | Offside: 5
