Oakland Roots sat back and absorbed pressure for most of the opening 45 minutes of play as they took on MLS opposition Tuesday night in U.S. Open Cup Play.
The home side San Jose Earthquakes, while on the front foot, did not threaten the goal of Paul Blanchette for most of the opening period.
The best chances of the first half fell in the final 5 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.
The San Jose pressure led to a goal from Ousseni Bouda in the 76th minute, giving the home side the 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.
Roots will now return to USL play and head to New Mexico on Saturday May 11th.
Oakland Roots SC vs San Jose Earthquakes
U.S. Open Cup | May 7, 2024
Venue: PayPal Park
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PT
Weather: 61°F, Sunny
SCORELINE:
SJ: 1
OAK: 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
SJ: Ousseni Bouda 76’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
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
