The United States men’s national team’s World Cup qualifying campaign is back on track with a vital 2-1 win over Costa Rica on Wednesday. Sergino Dest scored the equalizer after the Americans went down in the first minute, and he helped set up the second one with a ball to Tim Weah that resulted in an own goal in the second half.
The victory has the team back in first place in qualifying, provisionally, with Mexico needing a point against El Salvador to move back into the top spot.
Here’s how they performed:
USMNT player ratings
(GK) Zack Steffen
90
Looked shaky to start, did poorly on the opening goal, but to be fair there was a player (sort of) blocking his view. After that, he didn’t have to worry about much.
5
(DEF) Sergino Dest
73
Great going forward but poor defensively. Scored a beauty of a goal and had a key pass on the second goal. The flair was there, and this time, so was the production.
8
(DEF) Chris Richards
90
Didn’t have to make a single tackle. Was graceful and confident on the ball and felt like a sure thing with it at his feet. At times had issues with winning duels and surprisingly won just 33.3 percent of his aerials.
6
(DEF) Miles Robinson
90
Very good in recovery, using that tall, big frame to shield the ball well. The Atlanta United star was also very strong in the air and always looked confident in defending set pieces, recovering incredibly off an error in the second half.
7
(DEF) Antonee Robinson
90
Didn’t have much to worry about in defense, but in attack he saw plenty of ball down the left and played some dangerous balls into the box. The end product wasn’t quite there, but he was solid.
6
(MID) Tyler Adams
90
The most important player on this team. Led it tackles won almost 80 percent of his duels and was that leader the team could turn to.
7.5
(MID) Yunus Musah
78
Had some moments where he made defenders look silly and got into space. Completed 90.5 percent of his passes and every single one in the final third.
7.5
(MID) Weston McKennie
90
His passing, mainly to get the ball into potentially creative areas, was absolutely superb. He was direct, decisive and at times brilliant. Led team in touches and passes.
7.5
(FWD) Brenden Aaronson
86
Was on both wings, alternating and getting the ball into dangerous spots. Didn’t get to go in on goal as much as he would have liked, resulting in a fairly quiet display.
5.5
(FWD) Ricardo Pepi
87
Had three shots, including one that was blocked well right in front of goal. Got into some decent positions but knows he wasted a couple headers. Still, it was very encouraging.
6
(FWD) Tim Weah
74
Combined decently at times with Dest early, and it only got better in the second half. Did so well to quickly take a hit and secure the winning goal.
7
DeAndre Yedlin
Dest (73′)
Came in at right back and held his own but had next to nothing to do in the end as the U.S. was closer to scoring a third than Los Ticos a second.
6
Matthew Hoppe
Weah (73′)
There were a couple decent moments for the Mallorca man, including an acrobatic overhead kick on the endline to nearly assist Pepi.
6
Gianluca Busio
Musah (78′)
The Venezia man looked creative and comfortable in his 12 minutes on the pitch. Also had a decent shot from the right side of the box that was blocked.
6
Walker Zimmerman
Aaronson (86′)
Late sub to boost the defense in the final moments.
6
Gyasi Zardes
Pepi (87′)
Played a few late minutes and was used more to waste time than anything.
N/A
Gregg Berhalter
5
He had this team ready to play, and the fact that they responded to that early goal says a lot. They could still be much sharper, and in the end they did need an own goal to win. But, the quality of chances created, the confidence they showed, it was all part of one of their most encouraging performances in a while.
KVSP 
