The USMNT opened their October window with a draw on Friday. The team fell behind to Ecuador midway through the first half after Aidan Morris gambled on a ball near midfield and lost allowing John Yeboah
to cut out several US defenders with an incisive pass to Enner Valencia. Valencia still had some work to do and Chris Richards recovered somewhat to push Valencia wide the shot beat Matt Freese at the far post as Ecuador took the lead. The US had the better of the chances in the first half but it wasn’t until midway through the second half, in the 71st minute that Ecuador’s own error, driven in part by Malik Tillman’s high press allowed the US to quickly counter. On the play the Ecuadorian centerback made a precision pass directly to Tim Weah about 10 yards outside of the 18. Several quick passes later between Weah, Tanner Tessmann, and Malik Tillman and Folarin Balogun was setup to finally find the back of the net, tying the match 1-1 which is where the score would end.
Three of the four contributors in the buildup to the goal finish in the top three positions, with Tim Weah coming in at five, just behind Weston McKennie who has finally returned to Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Perhaps because of his gaff that led to the Ecuadorian opportunity, Aidan Morris was the lowest ranked starter of the night, coming in at a pretty mediocre 5.26. Matt Freese, who allowed one goal and made three saves hasn’t exactly slammed the door shut on a goalkeeper conversation and came in at a 5.98.
Ultimately it was goal scoring Balogun, who looked dangerous all night, who was your SSFC Man of the Match with a score that was well above the rest of the crowd. Balogun’s 8.26 came in more than a full point ahead of second place Malik Tillman.
Below are the full scores with the starters listed first and in order of their rankings, followed by the substitutes.
Folarin Balogun – 8.26
Malik Tillman – 7.05
Tanner Tessmann – 6.50
Weston McKennie – 6.36
Tim Weah – 6.30
Christ Richards – 6.18
Tim Ream – 6.14
Matt Freese – 5.98
Max Arfsten – 5.75
Miles Robinson 5.69
Aidan Morris – 5.26
Sub – Alex Freeman – 5.60
Sub – Diego Luna – 5.55
Sub – Christian Pulisic – 5.47
Sub – Cristian Roldan – 5.24
Sub – Mark McKenzie – 5.23
Sub – Haji Wright – 5.18
—
Coach – Mauricio Pochettino – 6.88
Match Official – 5.17
Do these ratings seem about right to you or what would you have changed? Let us know in the comments section below.
