The United States men’s national team scored early and went on a surge in the second half to add more to their tally as they came away with the shutout win over Oman on Tuesday night at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota.
After Saturday’s frustrating 3-0 win over Uzbekistan, head coach Gregg Berhalter said there was room for improvement as they go through this World Cup cycle without the worry of qualifiers. However, he remained steadfast in using his trusted 4-3-3 formation with a few changes.
Ethan Horvath started between the posts in the place of Matt Turner, who was released early from the team. Kristoffer Lund made his first start after completing his one-time switch, while Miles Robinson partnered with Chris Richards in central defense. Malik Tillman started for the first time in the midfield three with Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah.
The Americans opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Tim Weah chased down the ball in Oman’s own to send in a cross from the right side. Christian Pulisic slipped before he could make contact with the ball, but McKennie recovered and sent it back to Weah who then set up Sergino Dest for a shot at goal. Oman goalkeeper Ibrahim Almukhaini did well to block the attempt, but Folarin Balogun was on the spot to put away the rebound.
Similar to the Uzbekistan game, the U.S. started brightly, but it didn’t lead to more goals in the first half although they had several chances to increase their lead.
Fortunately, they were able to find the goals in the second half. Brenden Aaronson grabbed their second in the 60th minute with a free-kick that went through the crumbling wall of Oman as the ball skipped past the keeper.
Ricardo Pepi, who came for Balogun, made it 3-0 in the 79th minute. DeJuan Jones ran onto a long pass down the right side and crossed it to the top of the 18-yard box to the PSV man who was able to get his shot past the oncoming defender as it nestled into the left side netting.
The U.S. forced an own goal two minutes later when Ben Cremaschi played the ball down the right side for Kevin Paredes to pick up. The wing-back sent a dangerous cross towards the center that led to Oman’s Khalid Al Braiki sliding through to put the ball in his own net.
The Americans go two for two in the September friendlies. October will provide a tougher test for the team as they are set to face Germany and Ghana.
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