It may be a new cycle, but Thursday night's Nations League semifinal between the U.S. men's national team and Mexico produced more of the same, unfortunately for El Tri. For some time, the USMNT has dominated this rivalry and, thanks to yet another Christian Pulisic masterclass, that domination continued in Las Vegas on Thursday night in a match that quickly turned ugly with several on-field brawls.
Pulisic was totally unplayable in the 3-0 USMNT win as he led his team into a Nations League final date with Canada. The American winger was dominant, scoring twice, but he was far from the only standout in the USMNT's best performance against Mexico in recent memory.
While the match will certainly be remembered as a dominant USMNT win, it'll also be remembered as one that descended into chaos. It, ultimately, finished nine-on-nine, with both sides seeing a player sent off after two separate melees.
The first came after Cesar Montes hacked down Folarin Balogun, with Weston McKennie joining Montes in the locker room for his role in the ensuing brawl. Sergino Dest and Gerardo Arteaga were also both sent off for a late clash, leaving the U.S. without two key starters for the Nations League final.
All of that came amid the breaking news of Gregg Berhalter's return, and the U.S. looked very much like the team that is building off last cycle's successes. There will be plenty of talk in the coming days about what happens next, but this result proved that, despite six months of treading water with the coaching search, the USMNT surely haven't lost a step, and they sure as hell haven't lost any of the fight or camaraderie that defined last cycle.
GOAL rates the USMNT's players from Las Vegas:
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