USA v Bosnia-Herz
Play By Play
An excellent performance from start to finish sees the 10-man United States get the better of Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 in San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. Balogun, who had a first-half goal disallowed, got the opening goal in the first half with a composed finish for the co-hosts, who were firmly the better team in the match. Even though the Americans played the final half an hour down a man due to Balogun's red card, Bosnia-Herzegovina did not do enough to warrant finding the back of the net. Pulisic saw a bundled effort ruled out for offside before Tillman's free-kick in the 82nd minute sealed the deal, with the Stars and Stripes moving forward to take on Belgium in the round of 16 after winning just the second World Cup knockout-stage game in their history. The xG at full-time reads 0.92 to 0.25 for the USA. Thank you for tuning into this live text commentary. Take care, and until next time.
FULL-TIME: UNITED STATES 2-0 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
ANOTHER CHANCE! Mahmic decides to have another effort after he moves with the ball and goes forward before having a go. Once more, it just blows by the post, but the USA defence looked worried for a second.
CHANCE! Mahmic goes for goal from distance, but the ball veers just wide of the mark. Freese was certainly concerned there, but he did not have to make a save.
The ball falls to Freeman inside the box, but the attempt is rather wild and goes out for a Bosnia-Herzegovina goal-kick.
Tillman wins a free-kick from some more good work to force a foul out of Memic. The USA are running down the clock brilliantly as they look to see out the win.
McKennie gets taken off to a standing ovation from the home crowd. Coming on for him is Reyna.
Alajbegovic curls his shot on goal, but it just cannot find its way inside the post. The USA can clear their lines in the form of a goal-kick.
The fourth official puts the number 10 up on his board, meaning Bosnia-Herzegovina have at least 10 minutes to try and reverse this two-goal deficit. They have seldom impressed going forward in this game, and if they are to find a way back into it, they will need to do so with haste.
Freese was fortunate there as he does not get a hand on the cross into his box. The ball did not fall to a Bosnia-Herzegovina player as a more than decent chance goes begging.
Pepi is the other player to come on in place of Pulisic, who thought he had a goal to celebrate.
Dest is taken off and is replaced by Berhalter after a rather solid performance.
Freeman chests the ball down to Freese, who receives a small push and goes down. He needlessly stays down for a brief moment to stop the play, but the referee is having none of it.
Bosnia-Herzegovina are now desperately trying to find the back of the net and get a goal back. Time is running out for them now, but to this point, they still have not given Freese a significant save to make in the match.
GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL UNITED STATES, THEY GET THEIR SECOND! Tillman gets his free-kick from just outside the box over the tall wall and into the back of the net. Vasilj will be left disappointed there, as he gets a touch on the ball, but he could not keep it out. It is now 2-0 to the USA, who are well on their way to the last 16.
Radeljic holds Dest back just outside of the box, forcing the referee to blow the play dead and show the Bosnian man a yellow card.
The Bosnia-Herzegovina head coach is shown a yellow card for his antics as he was not pleased about a call.
NO GOAL! It's another lovely build-up there as the USA put the ball in the back of the net. McKennie finds Tillman in the box, and he pushes it through to Pulisic to score. However, the AC Milan man is well offside before he bundles it past Vasilj, denying them a second goal. It remains 1-0 to the USA!
Alajbegovic tries to go for goal from outside of the box, but the American defence holds firm and get in the way of the attempt. It has been all Bosnia-Herzegovina since they went up a man.
Memic is the other player to come on, taking the place of Katic, who has had a solid match on the wing.
Bosnia make their last two changes for the match, with the first seeing Kolasinac come on to be replaced by Tabakovic.
It will be a question of what Bosnia-Herzegovina can do from here as we get back under way. Of course, Dzeko already came off, meaning they will have to do so without their captain and leader. With about 20 minutes to go, they will need to make the most of their man advantage.
We have reached the second-half hydration break, with the USA still up 1-0. However, their task to try and hold on just got more difficult following Balogun's red card. Bosnia-Herzegovina have been a bit more adventurous after the break, but they have yet to truly test Freese. They will need to change that in the final quarter of normal time. The xG at this point still is in the USA's favour, 0.73 to 0.13.
Bajraktarevic turns around and tries to put the ball back into the mix. It ends up being a rather tame effort on goal, making it an easy stop for Freese.
That was a decent chance there for Bosnia-Herzegovina, as Ream deflects a cross to Demirovic, who has a shot. Unfortuantely for him, he does not get enough power in the shot, with it being a comfortable save for Freese.
