The USMNT once again fell behind early, allowing an Australian goal in the 19th minute after the defense was caught flat footed on a throw deep in the US half. James Sands had a very poor clearance attempt
and was among at least four defenders who were slow to react as Australia took the lead. However, this time the team was able to complete the comeback even with needing to make the early change and remove their strongest attacker. In the 33rd minute Cristian Roldan assisted Haji Wright as the US drew level. Finally, five minutes into the second half the US would take their first lead of the window as Roldan once again assisted Wright for the winning goal.
Sands, whose mistakes on the Australian goal were not redeemed throughout the match was the low man of the day with the only player rating of the day, starter or substitute, to come in under five at 4.9. The other defensive changes in Mark McKenzie, Alex Freeman and Miles Robinson also scored in the mid fives showing there is still a reason for concern at the back, while Chris Richards escaped the same level of criticism to finish in the top four players.
Not many would have expected Cristian Roldan to be such a key figure coming into the window, much less the match but he was highly regarded with a 7.4 on the day. Ultimately, and unsurprisingly though, it was brace scoring Haji Wright who was your SSFC Man of the Match with his 8.5 rating.
Below are the full scores with the starters listed first and in order of their rankings, followed by the substitutes.
Haji Wright – 8.5
Cristian Roldan – 7.4
Weston McKennie – 6.8
Chris Richards – 6.3
Tim Weah – 6.2
Matt Freese – 5.9
Miles Robinson – 5.7
Christian Pulisic – 5.6
Mark McKenzie – 5.5
Alex Freeman – 5.5
James Sands – 4.9
Sub – Diego Luna – 6.3
Sub – Brenden Aaronson – 6.2
Sub – Folarin Balogun – 5.7
Sub – Tanner Tessmann – 5.6
Sub – Aidan Morris – 5.3
Sub – Max Arfsten – 5.2
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Coach – Mauricio Pochettino – 6.7
Match Official – 3.8
Do these ratings seem about right to you or what would you have changed? Let us know in the comments section below.
