U.S. men’s soccer team edges El Salvador, 1-0, with Antonee Robinson goal

The U.S. men’s soccer team notched another win in World Cup qualifying on Thursday, albeit by the minimum margin: 1-0 over El Salvador in Columbus, Ohio. Antonee Robinson scored the goal in the 52nd minute after a frustrating first half.

There were ample chances for more goals. But as has so often been the case in this qualifying tournament, a lack of finishing touch left the Americans short of quality. And that started from the kickoff, as U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter gambled by putting Jesús Ferreira at striker instead of Ricardo Pepi.

Berhalter had planned for Ferreira to drop back a bit and pull El Salvador’s back line forward, creating space for wingers Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah to break free. That much happened in spades. But Ferreira missed two big chances in the first 20 minutes, including a touch over the crossbar from just off the goal line after a lovely buildup by Sergiño Dest and Weah.

The U.S. ended up with an 8-3 advantage in first-half shots — and El Salvador had one of the half’s best chances overall. In the 28th minute, Alex Roldán, brother of U.S. midfielder Cristian Roldán (they’re Seattle Sounders club teammates, too) blasted a shot inches wide from 18 yards.

Just as significant as Ferreira’s woes, Pulisic was subpar: 12-of-12 passing from 30 touches, but nine duels lost, one shot, and one chance created.

So it was a bit surprising that there were no substitutions at halftime, with Pepi and Brenden Aaronson among the options on the U.S. bench.

Within seven minutes, though, the pressure was released. Weah broke in from the right wing with some dribbling wizardry, forced a save from Mario Gonzalez, and Ferreira brought the ball down with a header into open space. Weah swung and missed, but Robinson was there and struck down the middle.

» READ MORE: USMNT faces four opponents in World Cup qualifying: El Salvador, Canada, Honduras, and Mother Nature

Aaronson replaced Pulisic in the 65th as the U.S. sought a second goal, and two more subs arrived in the 72nd: Gyasi Zardes for Ferreira and Jordan Morris for Weah. It was Morris’ first major national team action since Nov. 20, 2019, after a series of brutal injuries. (He started in a friendly vs. Bosnia last December, but that was an exhibition for a MLS offseason training camp squad.)

But there was no second U.S. goal. In fact, the Americans didn’t register a shot from the 65th minute to the 84th.

It ended up not affecting the result. Kellyn Acosta replaced Yunus Musah in the 89th minute to close the game out, and after four minutes of stoppage time the game was over.

“I think that the ambition to play forward and get behind them was missing for the 90 minutes,” Berhalter said. “We had it in spurts, but overall I think we could have done that much better.”

Berhalter was full of praise for Robinson, as were many observers. Dest also played a strong game after a recent rough stretch at his club, Spanish superpower Barcelona.

“We call our fullbacks our superpower of our team, and we do that because they produce — they give assists and goals,” Berhalter said.

» READ MORE: Q&A: ESPN’s Martín Ainstein on Sergiño Dest, Yunus Musah, and biking around Spain to tell stories of La Liga

Robinson reflected on the need to be patient in the latest of many games in which the U.S. faces a defense-first opponent. Many American players were out of form, too: MLS-based ones in their offseason, some Europe-based ones who recently had winter breaks, and England-based ones like Robinson, who’ve barely had a day off for weeks.

“It was never going to be, you know, we turn up with the short time that we’ve had to prepare and just play an amazing game of football and win 6-0,” Robinson said. “We kept patient; we kept doing what was working, and eventually got the goal, thankfully. … They’re the games we have to keep winning if we want to qualify.”

The defense held firm, too. Robinson, Dest, and centerbacks Chris Richards and Walker Zimmerman were backstopped by goalkeeper Matt Turner, who stood in for the injured Zack Steffen and never looked ruffled. It was his first U.S. start since Oct. 11, and came with an extra spotlight amid news that he’s moving to Premier League stalwart Arsenal. The deal isn’t quite official yet, but Berhalter confirmed in his postgame news conference that it will happen.

Canada kept its lead in first place with a 2-0 win at Honduras, avenging a 2-1 loss in 2016 and an infamous 8-1 destruction in 2012. The U.S. ended the night in second, one point back of Canada heading into Sunday’s showdown of neighbors in Hamilton, Ontario (3 p.m., Paramount+, Telemundo 62 and Universo).

Mexico beat Jamaica, 2-1, but not before a roller-coaster of a night. Jamaica suffered a red card at the end of the first half, then scored the opener in the 52nd minute. But Union goalkeeper Andre Blake’s Reggae Boyz gave up 82nd- and 83rd-minute goals to fall to another dispiriting defeat.

The night’s last game was the most significant: Costa Rica beat Panama, 1-0, at home despite being outshot 16-9. That brought the standings gap between fourth-place Panama and fifth-place Costa Rica down to two points, and kept Jamaica seven points back of fourth — the spot that gets the last shot at a ticket to Qatar, through an intercontinental playoff.

» READ MORE: Venezia aiming to sign U.S. national team striker Jordan Pefok

Here’s how the landscape looks after Thursday’s games.

1. Canada, 5-0-4, 19 points

2. United States, 5-1-3, 18 points

3. Mexico, 5-2-2, 17 points

4. Panama, 4-3-2, 14 points

5. Costa Rica, 3-3-3, 12 points

6. Jamaica, 1-4-4, 7 points

7. El Salvador, 1-5-3, 6 points

8. Honduras, 0-6-3, 3 points