The USMNT won their first World Cup knockout match in 24 years by defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 on Wednesday night. The match wasn’t without it’s difficulties, the US dominated possession early but didn’t find many great looks at goal. However, Folarin Balogun would find the back of the net just before the end of the first half, putting the US up 1-0.
Of course, that wasn’t Balogun’s only action of the night after VAR intervened twenty minutes into the second half and Balogun was shown a straight
red card for a coming together that looked clumsy at worst and innocuous at best. However, the card would have the US men playing down a man the rest of the way. The US responded by going into a defensive shell and looking to counter when possible.
They found their insurance goal in the 82nd minute after Sergino Dest was taken down just outside the box and Malik Tillman sent home a beautiful shot, curling over the wall and with enough pace that the Bosnia and Herzegovina keeper couldn’t keep it out, though he got a hand to it.
Unsurprisingly, the lowest rating of the match didn’t belong to a player but to the match official who sent off Balogun in what seemed like a very harsh decision. On the other end of the spectrum, Mauricio Pochettino once again received high marks for his coaching, a common theme throughout the tournament.
Amongst the players the starters all received solid marks with one player in particular rising to the top. Malik Tillman was your SSFC Man of the Match with an 8.92, indicative of a very solid all around performance, buoyed by his lovely goal to clinch passage for the US.
The full results are below, let us know what you think:
Malik Tillman – 8.92
Folarin Balogun – 7.99
Weston McKennie – 7.82
Chris Richards – 7.57
Tyler Adams – 7.51
Tim Ream – 7.45
Christian Pulisic – 6.98
Alex Freeman – 6.84
Antonee Robinson – 6.65
Sergino Dest – 6.61
Matt Freese – 6.24
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Sub – Sebastian Berhalter – 5.83
Sub – Gio Reyna – 5.51
Sub – Ricardo Pepi – 5.22
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Coach Mauricio Pochettino – 8.33
Match Official – 2.10
Do these ratings seem about right to you or what would you have changed? Let us know in the comments section below.
