OneFootball
Blaise Bourgeois·14 October 2021
OneFootball
Blaise Bourgeois·14 October 2021
The United States avoided a crushing blow to their qualification hopes with a 2-1 win over Costa Rica in Columbus on Wednesday night.
Scorers: Dest 25′, Moreira (OG) 62′; Fuller 1′
The USMNT are now temporarily on top of the Octagonal, pending the results of the other games tonight, as a golazo from Sergiño Dest and a Leonel Moreira own goal gave the Americans a much-needed 2-1 victory.
Costa Rica, who have had a very mixed World Cup qualifying run thus far, got off to a flying start as Keysher Fuller scored a dribbler across the face of goal to give Costa Rica a shock lead in Ohio.
Though the United States struggled to generate many chances in the first half, Sergiño Dest took his chance in the greatest way possible, launching a missile into the top corner from outside the box to give the Americans the equaliser.
The match would take a twist at half-time as Keylor Navas exited the match with a right adductor injury, which would become relevant just after the hour mark.
In the 62nd minute, Timothy Weah’s blast was ruled an own goal by back-up goalkeeper Leonel Moreira, a ruling which will remain controversial as Weah’s shot was saved, went off the post, and spun into the net.
As for Costa Rica, not getting a result tonight means their hopes to qualify for Qatar took a huge blow as they miss out on a golden chance to leapfrog the USMNT and temporarily go into second place.