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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
The United States ended coach Gregg Berhalter’s first window back as head coach with a dominant 4-0 win over Oman at Allianz Field in Minnesota on Tuesday.
Folarin Balogun got the US off to a fast start with a 13th-minute goal, before Brenden Aaronson (who replaced Christian Pulisic at half-time), Ricardo Pepi and an own goal by Oman finished the scoring in the second half.
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It was clear early on that Oman, ranked No. 73 in the FIFA world rankings, completely defeated by the US, which is at No. 11 of the last version released in July.
Manager rating (scale of 1-10)
Gregg Berhalter, 7 — There’s not much to be overly critical of here. The US won comfortably and mixed in some new faces. It was a great team night. From a pure results point of view, a pair of wins by a combined 7-0 score made it a successful first window back for Berhalter, but considering the level of competition it is, more or less, expected. A more interesting test comes next month against Germany and Ghana.
USMNT Player Ratings (0-10; 10 = best; 5 = average)
GK Ethan Horvath, 6 — It is necessary to make only one save.
DF Kristoffer Lund, 4 — After making his US debut on Saturday, Lund got his first start and, at times, his lack of familiarity with his teammates showed. He didn’t have to do much defending the dominant US claimant.
DF Miles Robinson, 7 — It was a quiet night for Robinson, who was largely untested.
DF Chris Richards, 7 — As was the case with Robinson, there wasn’t much the defense could do in this game.
DF Sergiño Dest, 7 — A chipped shot led to the first goal and he was constantly involved in the attack until being subbed later on.
MF Weston McKennie 8 — A fully engaged McKennie was a difference maker for the US and that was the version that appeared on Tuesday night. A missed opportunity late is all wrong.
MF Malik Tillman, 5 — Without Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna participating in this window, it opens up an opportunity for him to start in the center of midfield, but he does not threaten the third attack as expected against a team of caliber of Oman.
MF Yunus Musah, 7 — Sits deeper than he usually does for the US and looks comfortable on paper.
FW Christian Pulisic, 6 — It wasn’t a memorable game — or window — for Pulisic, who didn’t impact the game as much as he could have. It came for Aaronson in the middle, by design.
FW Folarin Balogun 7 — Right place, right time for Balogun in the 13th minute, when he calmly hammered home a rebound from a strike from Dest to make it 1-0. Also a planned half-time sub.
FW Tim Weah, 7 — Pushed the game forward and was generally good in possession.
Substitutes (players introduced after 70 minutes do not get a rating)
FW Ricardo Pepi, 7 — Another goal from the bench for Pepi, who looks set to make it an interesting competition with Balogun for the starting striker role.
MF Brenden Aaronson, 6 — Good things can happen when you put the ball in the frame. Aaronson’s free-kick goal could have been easily blocked by the wall of Oman, but it was split after the ball was delivered and snuck by the goalkeeper.
DF Mark McKenzie — Not much was required from him after the 71st minute,
MF Benjamin Cremaschi — From playing with Lionel Messi in Miami to making his US national team debut. What a year for the 18-year-old. He almost got an assist after the 71st minute.
DF DeJuan Jones — Jones assisted Pepi’s goal soon after coming on.
FW Kevin Paredes — Immediately after his debut, his cross came from an Oman player for his own goal.