SAN ANTONIO — It took some time for the match to catch fire but when it did the goals started flowing as four goals in 20 minutes saw San Antonio FC and Oakland Roots split the points at Toyota Field on Saturday.
Oakland’s best chances came on the counter so it was no surprise when that was where the opening goal of the match came from. Miche-Naider Cherry was left open on the far post allowing him to head home for the goal with Pablo Sisniega scrambling.
San Antonio FC hit back in the 73rd minute thanks to a beautiful run from Juan Agudelo, coming in on the diagonal. Agudelo timed his run perfectly to get onto the cross from Buno Nogueira that fell right at his shins.
Just five minutes later San Antonio took the lead, Kevon Lambert getting on the end of a cross from Jorge Hernandez to head it up and over the keeper.
Lambert went from hero to zero in less than ten minutes, charging down a ball after he lost his man, giving away a penalty. That allowed Johnny Rodriguez to step up and smash the penalty home to take a point for Oakland.
San Antonio FC thought they had the lead in the 9th minute when Machop Chol put the ball in the back of the net. Unfortunately for him he was caught by a smart offside trap from Oakland but the warning signs were there.
The injury crisis worsened for SAFC in the 25th minute when Lucas Silva went down with a knock and had to be replaced by Kameron Lacey.
There were some good ideas from San Antonio but the final ball was too often just in front of a player or the touch was just too heavy, allowing Oakland to recover.
It was a physical encounter throughout, with some chippy fouls, but nothing really crossing the line into foul play, but the referee was kept busy. That meant the match was fairly disjointed which made it hard for either side to build up, until the latter stages of the match.
Texas Soccer News 