USMNT falls to Mexico 3-0 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – In the 70th meeting of USA-Mexico, presented by AT&T, the U.S. Men’s National Team fell 3-0 in front of 47,960 fans at MetLife Stadium.

The match began as a tug of war with first Mexico and then the USA gaining spells of possession, but it was the U.S. that carved out the first real chance on goal in the 14^th minute. Sergiño Dest, making his senior international debut with the USA, took the ball in stride on the overlap from Alfredo Morales before cutting inside and unleashing a drive from a few yards outside the box that was curling toward the upper right corner before Mexico netminder Jonathan Orozco was able to punch it away.

Seven minutes later however, it was Mexico with a 1-0 lead on its only shot on goal in the first half as Jesús Manuel Corona wriggled free of the USA defense before picking out Mexico’s all-time leading goal scorer Javier Hernandez to head home.

Near the half hour mark, Christian Pulisic nearly caught a weak back pass but Orozco got to the ball in time to smash it off Pulisic, who chased the ball down again, this time near the top of the box. The Chelsea man was hindered by a defender draped over his back as he tried to settle the ball and turn to get a shot toward the vacated goal, but Mexico escaped the danger.

Pulisic again put Mexico under pressure 10 minutes later with a long run during which he eliminated multiple Mexico defenders off the dribble before finding Morales at the top of the box, but the Bundesliga midfielder’s shot skidded wide of the left post.

Emerging from halftime down 1-0, the USMNT began brightly before tensions flared between the two rivals on a few occasions as play got choppy due to persistent fouling. U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter went to his bench just before the hour mark bringing on forward Jordan Morris and later Josh Sargent and Sebastian Lletget to try and spark the attack.

Yet it was Mexico adding to its lead in the 78^th minute when the U.S. was caught trying to play out of the back and Erick Gutierrez picked off a pass, drove to the top of the box and slotted the ball in for the 2-0 lead.

The U.S. didn’t go down without a fight and carved out multiple chances to get on the board. Morales hit a shot off the right post in the 80 ^th minute after a free kick was headed back to him near the top of the box by Sargent, who had an opportunity to score himself from the penalty spot in the 88^th minute but the young striker’s shot was saved by Orozco.

In the intervening moments between the USA’s chances, Mexico scored a third on a counter attack in the 82^nd minute as Uriel Antuna capped off Hirving Lozano’s cross to put El Tri out of sight.

Next on the Schedule: The USA heads to St. Louis, Missouri to tackle fifth-ranked Uruguay at Busch Stadium in its last match before Concacaf Nations League play begins in October. The game will be broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, TUDN and Univision.
Social: Twitter , Instagram (@USMNT) and Facebook

Goal Scoring Rundown:
MEX – Javier Hernandez (Jesús Manuel Cornoa), 21st minute: Mexico gained possession in the U.S. half and worked the ball out to Corona on the right touchline where he dribbled past two defenders into the box and picked out a pinpoint cross to the back door for an unmarked Hernandez to head into the left side of the net. USA 0, MEX 1 [WATCH]

MEX – Erick Gutierrez, 78h minute: As the USA tried to pass from its goalmouth upfield, Mexico pressed and ultimately Gutierrez picked off a pass in the middle of the field 30 yards from goal. He drove to the top of the box before sliding a rolling shot into the lower right corner. USA 0, MEX 2 [WATCH]

MEX – Uriel Antuna (Hirving Lozano), 82nd minute: Mexico recovered the ball after the USA hit the post and sprang forward with Lozano beating one defender and carrying the ball into the U.S. defensive third before slipping Antuna in on goal. From just inside the top of the box, the LA Galaxy man coolly rolled the ball into the right side of the net. USA 0, MEX 3 [WATCH] FINAL

Key Saves and Defensive Plays:
MEX – Jonathan Orozco, 14th minute: The USA put the first real chance of the game on goal when Alfredo Morales played Sergiño Dest up the left side and the 18-year-old left back cut inside as he neared the final third then unleashed a curling drive toward the upper right corner that Gonzalez had to punch away.

MEX – Jonathan Orozco, 29th minute: As the USA cleared its defensive lines, a Mexico defender played a weakly headed pass back toward his own goal that Pulisic nearly chased down. Orozco arrived to the ball just in time to kick it off the Chelsea attacker, who stayed with the play and couldn’t quite get a shot off at the vacated goal as he tried to bring the loose ball down and turn toward goal with a Mexico defender drape over his back.

MEX – Jonathan Orozco, 88th minute: The U.S. won the ball at midfield and Sebastian Lletget curled a sumptuous ball around the flank of the Mexico defense into the box for Jordan Morris who was brought down as he collected the ball. Referee Joel Aguilar pointed to the spot and Josh Sargent stepped up to take the kick. He put a low, hard shot toward the left corner, but Orozco guessed correctly and got down to parry the strike.

Additional Notes:

• Tonight’s Starting XI for the U.S. had an average age of 24 years, 150 days – the youngest lineup to start a USMNT game in 2019. The Starting XI averaged 19 caps.
• USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter started six players who appeared in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup Final: Reggie Cannon, Aaron Long, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Zack Steffen and Gyasi Zardes.
• Having been part of U.S. squads at the 2017 U-17 World Cup and 2019 U-20 World Cup, 18-year-old defender Sergiño Dest made his senior international debut for the USMNT against Mexico tonight.
• Center back Miles Robinson also made his USMNT debut as a second half substitute, coming on in the 58^th minute for Walker Zimmerman.
• Zack Steffen captained the USMNT for the second time tonight. Steffen previously wore the armband in the 6-0 Gold Cup group stage win against Trinidad & Tobago on June 22, 2019 in Cleveland.
• Veteran midfielder Alfredo Morales made his first appearance for the U.S. since a 3-1 win against Puerto Rico on May 16, 2016 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
• Since 2000, the USA is 14-9-6 against Mexico. The U.S. is 19-36-15 against Mexico all-time.

– U.S. Men’s National Team Match Report –

Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Mexico
Date: September 6, 2019
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: MetLife Stadium; East Rutherford, N.J.
Attendance: 47,960
Kickoff: 9 p.m. ET
Weather: 62 degrees; cloudy

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA                          0 0 0
MEX                         1 2 3

MEX – Javier Hernández (Jesús Manuel Corona)    21^st minute
MEX – Érick Gutiérrez (Héctor Herrera)                    78
MEX – Uriel Antuna (Hirving Lozano)                        82

Lineups:
USA: 1-Zack Steffen (capt.), 20-Reggie Cannon, 4-Walker Zimmerman (22-Miles Robinson, 58), 3-Aaron Long, 18-Sergiño Dest (16-Daniel Lovitz, 67); 8-Weston McKennie, 6-Wil Trapp (17-Sebastian Lletget, 77), 15-Alfredo Morales (14-Jackson Yueill, 90); 21-Tyler Boyd (11-Jordan Morris, 58′), 9-Gyasi Zardes (19-Josh Sargent, 67), 10-Christian Pulisic
Substitutes not used: 12-Sean Johnson, 7-Cristian Roldan, 13-Tim Ream, 24-Paxton Pomykal
Head coach: Gregg Berhalter

MEX: 1-Jonathan Orozco; 21-Jorge Sánchez, 5-Diego Reyes, 15-Héctor Moreno, 23-Jesús Gallardo (31-Fernando Navarro, 87); 8-Carlos Rodríguez (7-Orbelín Pineda, 89), 16-Héctor Herrera, 18-Andrés Guardado (25-Érick Gutiérrez, 77), 24-Roberto Alvarado (26-Uriel Antuna, 76), 17-Jesús Manuel Corona (22-Hirving Lozano, 70), 14-Javier Hernández (29-Alexis Vega, 87)
Substitutes not used: 13-Guillermo Ochoa, 3-Carlos Salcedo, 4-Edson Álvares, 6-Jonathan Dos Santos, 10-Luis Montes, 9-Raúl Jiménez
Head coach: Gerardo Martino

Stats Summary: USA / MEX
Shots: 6 / 10
Shots on Goal: 4 / 4
Saves: 1 / 4
Corner Kicks: 1 / 3
Fouls: 17 / 17
Offside: 1 / 1

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Aaron Long (caution) 45^th minute
MEX -Alfredo Morales (caution) 58
MEX -Jorge Sánchez (caution) 58
MEX -Javier Hernández (caution) 74

Officials:
Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Zumba (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Douglas Bermudez (SLV)
4^th Official: Ivan Barton (SLV)