USA vs. El Salvador: Final score 2-0, USMNT will face Costa Rica in Gold Cup semifinals

Wednesday’s Gold Cup quarterfinal between the United States men’s national team and El Salvador was not a great soccer contest, but it was certainly an entertaining spectacle. The Americans overcame some poor defending and dirty tactics from their opponents to record a 2-0 win, thanks to two high-quality goals by members of their back line.

The USMNT got off to an extremely shaky start, committing numerous errors at the back. Eric Lichaj had the worst one when he gave the ball directly to Rodolfo Zelaya, allowing the Salvadoran forward to run clear in on goal. He had an opportunity to chip Tim Howard, but attempted to go around the American keeper, and that was a bad decision. Howard was able to slap the ball away.

On a 10th minute corner, Matt Hedges was picked and lost his man, Alexander Larin, who found himself wide open with the ball at his feet 12 yards from goal. He couldn’t sneak the ball through the traffic in front of him, though, and his shot was blocked.

In the 16th minute, the Americans showed their first signs of life. Jozy Altidore produced a save from Derby Carrillo off a nice pass from Darlington Nagbe, and the Americans should have been ahead 30 seconds after that. Gyasi Zardes found the back of the net after a run down the left wing, but the goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside.

The next half-hour featured a lot of sloppy play from both teams, but the USMNT produced two moments of quality to take a commanding lead into halftime. Omar Gonzalez was the scorer on the first American goal, heading in a gorgeous free kick by Michael Bradley.

Four minutes later, Lichaj scored his first career USMNT goal in surprising fashion. After the Americans won the ball back on the right wing, Lichaj surged forward into the middle, and his run was rewarded. Clint Dempsey found his team’s new goal-poaching fullback with a perfect pass, and Lichaj finished like a striker.

When El Salvador struggled to get back into the game early in the second half, they turned to dirty tactics. Salvadoran defender Henry Romero somehow got away with twisting Altidore’s nipple during a set piece, then took his antics one step further, biting the American striker.

Romero — who had already been yellow-carded in the 18th minute — was not booked for either offense. The referee also failed to spot a punch by Larin on substitute Jordan Morris 10 minutes later.

The rest of the match featured more bad fouls than decent attacking play from both teams. El Salvador failed to convert on a 73rd minute goal-mouth scramble where they couldn’t get a shot on target, despite three failed clearances by the Americans. Dempsey had a decent shot two minutes later. But the main thing that happened over the last 30 minutes was players kicking each other instead of the ball. The Americans held on for the victory, and El Salvador managed to avoid getting anyone sent off.

Next up for the USMNT is the semifinals. They’ll play Costa Rica on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.