The United States of America are through to the Round of 16 of their home World Cup after seeing off an unambitious Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 despite a red card for talismanic striker Folarin Balogun.
Balogun opened the scoring for The Stars and Stripes but will now miss the last-16 clash against Belgium after he unintentionally yet painfully trod on Tarik Muharemovic in the second half and was sent off after a VAR review.
However, after Bosnia struggled to shift into top gear against 10 men, Malik Tillman put the result beyond doubt with a sumptuous free kick in the 83rd minute.
It was just desserts for Mauricio Pochettino’s side who had two goals correctly ruled out for offside and were the only team looking to take the initiative in Santa Clara, but needed to wait until just before the lead.
After Balogun thought he’d opened the scoring 10 minutes earlier, the outstanding Tillman latched onto a loose ball and played it into the penalty area where Muharemovic couldn’t control it, allowing the striker to steal in and fire past Nikola Vasilj.
Then after Tyler Adams and Edin Dzeko appeared to have shaken off a nasty collision, the veteran striker was substituted early in the second half ending what could be his final international appearance, but Sergej Barbarez’s attacking changes failed to spark his side into life.
Bosnia’s luck appeared to have turned when Balogun saw red just before the hydration break, yet they failed to turn more possession into meaningful chances until stoppage time, and by then they were 2-0 down thanks to Tillman’s masterful free-kick.
The US will play Belgium in the early hours of Tuesday morning next week, with the winner potentially facing Spain or Portugal in the quarter-finals.
Source: Eurosport