Mauricio Pochettino and the United States Men’s National Team returned to action on Tuesday night when they took the field at Estadio Akron in Guadalajara for another installment of the United States-Mexico rivalry.
Poch and the U.S. came into Tuesday’s match on the heels of a 2-0 victory over Panama that saw goals from Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi.
Pochettino made two changes from the lineup that saw victory in Austin. Former Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner got the start in goal behind the back line of Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Miles Robinson, and Joe Scally. Gianluca Busio and Yunus Musah sat back while Malik Tillman, Brenden Aaronson, and Aidan Morris were higher up to form the midfield. Josh Sargent served as the lone striker.
The game stopped in the 19th minute to celebrate Guadalajara native Andrés Guardado, who exited the match to close the book on his legendary 182-game Mexican National Team career.
Raúl Jiménez got things going for Mexico in the 22nd minute when he stood over the ball after the referee awarded a free kick yards outside the box following a foul from Morris. Jiménez ran onto the ball and lasered a curling shot over the wall and to the upper-right corner that evaded the fingertips of Turner and crashed into the net to give Mexico a 1-0 lead.
Morris saw yellow in the 34th minute after a chopping challenge on Cesar Huerta. Mexico nearly doubled the lead following the foul after a series of give-and-go passes following the free kick led to Orbelin Pineda sending a cross into the box to a wide-open Edson Álvarez. Thankfully for the U.S., Pineda put too much on the cross as it evaded Álvarez.
Two changes came before the start of the second half as Kristoffer Lund replaced Robinson and Alejandro Zendejas replaced Musah.
Ream came up huge for the United States in the 49th minute as he turned on the jets to dispossess an open Jiménez inside the U.S. box. Despite his efforts, it was all for nothing as Jiménez quickly recovered and tackled the ball away from Ream. Jiménez’s tackle led the ball rolling to the feet of Cesar Huerta, who slotted it past Turner to give the home team a 2-0 lead.
A trio of changes came in the 63rd minute as Tanner Tessman, Brandon Vazquez, and Haji Wright replaced Tillman, Busio, and Sargent.
Lund whiffed on a golden opportunity in the 64t minute when he found himself wide open inside the box as he got on the end of Zendejas’ cross. Lund stuck his foot out, attempting to draw one back for the U.S., but his attempted strike sailed wide of goal.
Things got feisty in the 74th minute when a coming together between Zendejas and Jesus Angulo led to both sides rushing to the scene, along with several shoving matches. As a result, Zendejas and Álvarez received yellow cards in the 75th minute.
Things didn’t go to plan for Pochettino in his second game at the helm as the U.S. suffered a 2-0 loss on the road to Mexico after getting outshot 17 to five.
Pochettino and the United States will return to action on November 18 for Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinals action.