World Cup: Tillman helps USA progress to Round of 32 as Scally makes his debut
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The United States joined Mexico in the Round of 32 after their confident 2-0 win over Australia in Group D. Bayer Leverkusen’s Malik Tillman played the entire game as a central midfield. Both goals were scored in the first-half as Mauricio Pochettino’s side found solutions to deal with the absence of Christian Pulisic.
The former Borussia Dortmund attacker initiated an own-goal against Paraguay before his half-time substitution due to calf injury. Similarly, USMNT scored their first goal today courtesy of an own-goal as Cameron Burgess failed to properly clear Folarin Balogun's cutback.
The two goal hero from the opening game played alongside ex-Augsburg striker Ricardo Pepi on this one. The co-hosts doubled their lead when Villarreal's young center-back Alex Freeman benefitted from Australia's struggle to clear their box. After a lengthy VAR check by the German officials, Freeman celebrated his goal that further cemented USA's dominance.
Tony Popovic made triple substitutions for the second-half as the match winners from the Turkey game – Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe – came on to improve Australia's attacking threat. Metcalfe's St. Pauli teammate Jackson Irvine also featured for the Aussies as they at least managed to keep the score at 2-0.
Borussia Mönchengladbach's duo Joe Scally and Gio Reyna came on as substitutes for the hosts as the former made his World Cup debut. USMNT already booked their place in the Round of 32 as Turkey and Paraguay will meet later with a chance to battle Australia for an automatic qualification spot.
