Pulisic and Balogun fire USA past Senegal 3-2 in a chaotic World Cup tune-up
The co-hosts wanted a confidence-builder with the World Cup ten days away. For 45 minutes they had one, and then Sadio Mané reminded them how quickly a friendly can turn. In the end the United States held on to beat Senegal 3-2 in Charlotte, a result that flattered neither side but gave Mauricio Pochettino plenty to chew on.
It started perfectly. Christian Pulisic, back among the goals for his country, slipped a pass through for Sergiño Dest to finish inside seven minutes, then doubled the lead himself on 20 minutes after Ricardo Pepi picked him out. At 2-0 in front of a crowd of more than 57,000 at the Bank of America Stadium, the home support was settling in for a comfortable evening.
Mané drags Senegal level
Senegal had other ideas, and most of them came through their captain. Mané punished some loose American defending to score twice in eight minutes either side of half-time, first steering the ball past Matt Turner at the far post, then tapping in when the United States failed to clear. Inside an hour the game was level at 2-2 and the warm-up had become a contest nobody on the home bench had asked for.
The response, at least, was the kind Pochettino will have wanted to see. Folarin Balogun restored the lead on 63 minutes, turning in from close range after Tim Weah's cross took a deflection off a Senegal defender. It was Balogun's ninth goal for the United States, and it proved enough to settle a scrappy night.
Plenty for Pochettino to weigh up
Pochettino changed almost his entire side at the break, which explains some of the disjointed football that followed, and the experiment cut both ways. He got a long look at fringe players he is still ranking, but he also watched his defence hand Senegal a route back into a game it had no business being in. With the World Cup on home soil now a matter of days away, those defensive lapses are the detail that will keep the staff up at night.
For Pulisic, a goal and an assist on his first international strike of the year is the sort of evening that quiets a few questions about his form. For the United States as a whole, three goals and a win look fine on paper, but the manner of it suggests Pochettino still has plenty to fix before the tournament starts in earnest.
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