Pulisic and Mckennie on target as US beat Mexico

LOS ANGELES: Christian Pulisic and Weston Mckennie scored the goals as the United States downed Mexico 2-0 to move to the top of CONCACAF’S 2022 World Cup qualifying race on Friday.

Chelsea star Pulisic nodded home a 74thminute cross from Timothy Weah just five minutes ater coming on as a second-half substitute to put the Americans 1-0 up in Cincinnati.

Juventus’s Mckennie then made the game safe five minutes from time, sweeping a low finish past Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa ater Weah’s deflected low cross caused confusion in the Mexican area.

A late red card for Miles Robinson ater a second bookable offence let the US down to 10 men for the closing stages, but US coach Gregg Berhalter’s young side were not to be denied.

The win leaves the United States on top of the eight-team final round of CONCACAF standings with 14 points from seven games.

The top three finishers in the standings qualify automatically for next year’s finals in Qatar, while the fourth place team advances to an inter-continental playoff.

Friday’s win means the US are firmly on course to exorcise the ghost of their 2018 World Cup qualifying debacle, when they failed to reach the finals in a devastating blow for US football.

It also completed a clean sweep of victories by the US over Mexico in 2021 following wins over ‘El Tri’ in the CONCACAF Nations League final and Gold Cup final.

“It was incredible, the fans really came out tonight and moments like that are what we live for,” US goalscorer Pulisic said.

“Us-mexico you know what you’re going to get — it was a crazy game for sure, that’s what we expected. They were tough to break down and I’m happy I could come in and help us out.

“We’re happy with where we are now. We’ve got a lot of games let to play and this is just one step closer to get us to the World Cup.”

The US had struggled to get a foothold in the game during an error-strewn first-half performance, and had Manchester City reserve goalkeeper Zack Steffen to thank for two crucial saves to deny Mexico.

Steffen rescued the US in the 12th minute, diving to his right to turn a goal-bound Edson Alvarez shot from the edge of the area around the post.