The United States Men’s National Team took on Australia in Commerce City, Colorado and walked away with a 2-1 victory to continue the team’s bounce back into form. Coach Mauricio Pochettino put out a side with a whopping 6 changes from the match againstEcuador on Friday, though he kept the 3-4-3 formation. Of note, Christian Pulisic returned to the starting line up after being limited to just a substitute appearance in the previous match due to injury precaution (ominous foreshadowing). Fulham Fulback
Antonee Robinson was kept out from making his return due to injury issues and again did not make the bench. In particular, Pochettino opted to try and entirely new look midfield, with Tim Weah shifted from right wingback to the left, Alex Freeman taking up the right wingback role, and James Sands and Cristian Roldan anchoring the midfield. Haji Wright took over from Folarin Balogun at striker.
Unfortunately, the match started a bit rough for the USMNT. In the 19th minute, the team switched off on an Australia throw in the American defensive third. The US was slow to clear the ball and Australian defender Jordan Bos pursued the ball aggressively, pushing into the box and smashing it past a helpless Matt Freese.
From there, things got a little bit worse. Christian Pulisic took a hard fall in the 27th minute which eventually forced him to be substited off for Diego Luna. But the US slowly found their way back into the match. Tim Weah got the team’s first shot on target, a longdistance attempt that Aussie keeper Mathew Ryan saved. But then came the equalizer. Weston McKennie played in Cristian Roldan between the lines and then Roldan played Wright into the box with a throughball. Wright smashed it into the top nearpost corner with his first touch, 1-1.
As the half closed out, the US continued with their forward momentum. Roldan decided to shoot himself, putting his effort wide. Wright got another shot, this time a header off a corner that went over the bar. And Roldan tried again, this time putting it high. Despite their best efforts, the USMNT couldn’t find their second goal of the half. It would have to wait until after the break, but once the second half started, the US was back on the front foot.
The breakthrough came again from the connection between Roldan and Wright. Roldan took a quick freekick and put in a long ball for Wright to chase into the box. Wright did so, cut inside to lose his defender, and then calmly buried his shot into the net for his second goal of the night to give the USA a 2-1 lead.
From there, the match got bogged down a bit and neither team was really able to threaten the other’s goal. The US did create one more big chance, with Brenden Aaronson (who came on as a substitute) putting Luna into a good position late into the second half, but Luna’s shot went wide. The scoreline stuck and the US won 2-1.
It was a good return to winning ways and a third match unbeaten for the US, a marked improvement from earlier in the year. The USMNT next plays on November 15th against Paraguay as the team continues to prepare to host the World Cup next summer.
