Miami FC falls 1-2 to the Oakland Roots at home
MIAMI — A second-half onslaught of chances including a goal by Frank Lopez wasn't enough to overcome Oakland's two goals as Miami FC fell 1-2 to the Oakland Roots in Miami on Saturday night.
Both sides did not test the other for much of the first half trading possession with little to no threat on either defense. Memo Diaz for Oakland changed that in the 38th minute.
The defender took a great ball from Johnny Rodriguez that split Miami's defenders. Diaz made a diagonal run keeping him onside and took the Rodriguez pass in stride placing a perfect ball that beat Miami's Gagliardi on the far post.
For much of the second half Oakland began to finally break through Miami's organized defensive scheme and this time Rodriguez added to his assist with a run that beat the Miami defense off a quick cross that left Gagliardi no chance to save. All of a sudden, Miami found itself down 0-2 in the 69th minute.
Miami would not go down without a fight however, and Luisinho subbed on in the 70th minute after finally recovering from injury earlier this season to help add more attack for Miami.
That quickly paid dividends for Miami in the 75th minute as Luisinho collect the ball at midfield and raced down the center of the pitch before laying off the ball to Lopez. Lopez made one quick move to his right beating Oakland's keeper and easily blasting the ball in the back of the net to claim one goal back.
That began a flurry of Miami chances with 10 more shots on goal in the final 10 minutes of play, but the hosts could not find the back of the net this time and let all three points go to the visitors.
Miami will regroup as it travels to Virginia to take on Loudoun United on August 3 and away again at El Paso on August 10th before returning home on August 14 to face Memphis at FIU Stadium. Kickoff will be at 7:00pm ET. Tickets for the match are on sale now at www.MiamiFC.com.
CBS News Miami is the official broadcast partner for Miami FC. This story was reprinted with permission from Miami FC.
