United scores late to edge Oakland Roots SC, grabs third win in eight days

May 11—Isotopes Park continues to be home-sweet-home for New Mexico United.

Mukwelle Akale buried a 20-yard free kick in the 74th minute Saturday night and United made it stand for a 2-1 victory over Oakland Roots SC in front of 11,568 fans.

Playing its third match in an eight-day span, New Mexico was not necessarily at its best, but found a way to win. United (6-2-1) climbed to within one point of first-place Sacramento in the USL Championship Western Conference despite having played one game fewer than Republic FC.

Unlike the excitement that was evident after Wednesday's 4-2 U.S. Open Cup win over Real Salt Like, Saturday's victory produced weary smiles and a collective sigh of relief.

"I'm very tired," Akale said, "but also very happy. We know we got a bye week coming and we'll use that time to recover, but tonight we wanted to leave it all on the pitch. Getting three wins in a row like this feels really good."

It was a somewhat choppy performance for NMU, which took the lead on a Greg Hurst goal in the second minute but then struggled to maintain its usual pace until midway through the second half. Coach Eric Quill said fatigue was evident, but he applauded his players for fighting through it.

"I thought we were a little bit flat," Quill said. "There were a lot of tired legs out there, but great teams find a way and these guys did that. We always want to win at home and we got aggressive late when we had to."

Dayonn Harris exemplified United's gritty performance, putting together 90 strong minutes as a late addition to the starting lineup. Harris used his speed and quickness to create numerous problems for Roots SC (2-6-2), especially on the attacking end.

"It was one of those games," Harris said, "a little bit scrappy and we just wanted to give all we had. You can't beat the support from these fans, especially at a time like this when we're a little low on energy. They gave us that boost we needed."

It was United's seventh straight win at Isotopes Park in all competitions, dating back to last season. United has not spent much time at home in USLC play thus far, but is 3-0-0 on its home field.

Saturday's contest started on a high note as Hurst intercepted a pass attempt from Oakland goalkeeper Paul Blanchette and promptly chipped the ball over him and into the net less than two minutes into the contest. It turned out to be a good news-bad news scenario.

United held its 1-0 lead through halftime but was not especially sharp, especially in the early minutes of the second half. Oakland took advantage when Neveal Hackshaw sent a low shot toward the net and the ball deflected off NMU defender Abdi Mohamed. It changed direction and bounced over United goalkeeper Alex Tambakis to make it 1-1 in the 48th minute.

"Sometimes when you score so early you get a false sense of security," Quill said. "We needed to go for the jugular but instead we got a little flat."

It remained 1-1 until Akale was awarded a free kick from just outside the Oakland penalty area. He fired a low bender from the left corner that eluded Blanchette for what proved to be the decisive goal.

"I just practice those every single day," Akale said. "In that case, (defender) Tony Herbert made a move and the goalkeeper stepped in his direction, so I just shot it the other way. Tony should get an assist on that one."

United is off until it visits NYCFC II on May 21 for a U.S. Open Cup round of 16 match.