Hartford secure their tenth win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Oakland Roots SC following the Green and Blue’s fourth straight clean sheet. Hartford have held teams scoreless for the last 429 minutes of gameplay and have yet to allow a goal the entire month of September. The three points won from this contest jump Hartford ahead of Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC for 9th place in the Eastern Conference and level on points with 8th place Loudoun United.
Hartford was on the attack right from the jump with Mamadou Dieng and Beverly Makangila both getting off shots in the first ten minutes. Moments later, on a Green and Blue attack sequence, Marlon Hairston scored his first goal of the season (20’) on just his third shot of the season, rebounding Triston Hodge’s shot just two seconds prior. Unfortunately, five minutes after scoring, Hairston went down with an injury and was substituted out of the game for Thomas Vancaeyezeele. Hartford hit the half with a 1-0 lead.
The second half exhibited the same physical play seen in the first half. Following two Oakland yellow cards in the first forty-five by Irakoze Donasiyano (‘11) and Gagi Margvelashvili (40’), José Luis Sinisterra picked up Oakland’s third yellow of the game in the first minute of second-half play. Unfortunately for Hartford, the foul bug was infectious, as Jordan Scarlett picked up a red card in the 51st minute and would be forced to play down a man for the remaining 39 minutes.
Athletic were on the defensive end most of the second half, until Kyle Edwards scored his first goal of the season in the 77th minute off of a free-kick sequence assisted by Thomas Vancaeyezeele, putting Hartford up 2-0. The Green and Blue stayed strong behind another masterclass performance by Renan Ribeiro with six saves featuring an end of second-half stoppage time stretch of three back-to-back shots on target all being saved by the Brazilian goalkeeper.
The win moves the Green and Blue up to 9th place in the East with a 10-12-7 record and 37 points. Hartford head to Tampa Bay next Saturday, September 28th to face the Rowdies at Lang Stadium, kicking off at 7:30 PM.
Fast Stats:
Shots (On-Target): Hartford 14 (6) Oakland 19 (6)
Corners: Hartford 7 Oakland 2
Fouls: Hartford 10 Oakland 12
Offsides: Hartford 4 Oakland 1
Possession: Hartford 46.5% Oakland 53.5%
Passing Accuracy: Hartford 80.8% Oakland 80.7%
Saves: Hartford 6 Oakland 4
SCORING SUMMARY:
Hartford:
20’ – Marlon Hairston
77’ – Kyle Edwards (Thomas Vancaeyezeele)
Oakland: None
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
Hartford:
51’ – Scarlett (Red)
57’ – Bench (Yellow)
90 + 4’ – Asiedu (Yellow)
Oakland:
11’ – Donasiyano (Yellow)
40’ – Margvelashvili (Yellow)
46’ – Sinisterra (Yellow)
HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP
40 (GK) Renan Ribeiro, 4 (DF) Jordan Scarlett, 5 (DF) Triston Hodge; 15 (DF) Joseph Farrell, 24 (DF) Michael DeShields, 6 (MF) Beverly Makangila (Asiedu, 90’); 10 (MF) Danny Barrera (Edwards, 71’); 29 (MF) Emmanuel Samadia, 94 (MF) Marlon Hairston (Vancaeyezeele, 25’); 7 (FW) Marcus Epps, 33 (FW) Mamadou Dieng
OAKLAND ROOTS STARTING LINEUP
20 (GK) Paul Blanchette, 2 (DF) Baboucarr Njie (Naider-Chery, 74’); 4 (DF) Gagi Margvelashvili, 14 (DF) Justin Rasmussen, 23 (DF) Guillermo Diaz, 6 (MF) Daniel Gómez, 8 (MF) Irakoze Donasiyano (Reid, 63’); 22 (MF) Rafael Baca, (Elmasnouy, 74’); 17 (FW) Johnny Rodriguez, 98 (FW) José Luis Sinisterra (Cruz, 90 + 1’); 15 (DF) Neveal Hackshaw
