Cyle Larin (7’), Samuel Adekugbe (90’) scored for Canada. Hometown
\u200bhero Milan Borjan earned the cleansheet for Canada. Larin’s goal was the 23rdof his career sending him to the top of Canada’s Men’s National Team ‘A’
\u200bInternational scoring leaderboard.
Canada next face El Salvador on 2 February in San Salvador
\u200bto close out the January window. The match will be carried LIVE across Canada
\u200bon OneSoccer.ca, Sportsnet, and RDS at 21:00 ET | 18:00 PT.
“We’re living the dream, through the hard work and the
\u200beffort, we’re living a big moment, this country feels like they’re behind us
\u200band we’re nearly there,” said John Herdman, Men’s National Team Head Coach. “It
\u200bfeels like we’re in a football country. Stepping off the bus, the energy was
\u200bthere from the fans and then to go into the game, it was next man up. That’s
\u200bwhat this is all about, team spirit. We’ll never stop fighting and we’ve got a
\u200bfootball nation behind us now.”
Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ6GalznUeY
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=46765827%40N08&view_all=1&text=20220130
Cyle Larin opened the scoring with
\u200ba cool finish after a great give-and-go play with Jonathan David (7’). The goal
\u200bwas Larin’s 23rdfor Canada and put him in sole first position atop
\u200bthe CanMNT scoring chart in “A” matches.
In the 28’, Steven Vitoria blocked
\u200ba hard shot to deny the USMNT after a turnover in the Canadian box.
In the 33’, Samuel Adekugbe
\u200bswitched the field with a long cross to Larin but an American defender was able
\u200bto get his head on it just ahead of the Canadian to prevent a scoring chance.
Just before halftime, Milan Borjan
\u200bwas called into action with a brilliant save to maintain the clean sheet,
\u200bgetting a strong glove up to push away a headed chance off of an in-swinging
\u200bcorner kick by Christian Pulisic (43’).
In the 54’, David was able to beat
\u200bfour US players and stay on his feet to be able to play in a pass to Larin, who
\u200bsprinted into the box and tried to play a cross back to David, but the two
\u200bcouldn’t quite connect and the ball ended up going out the far side of the
\u200bpenalty area to safety.
Borjan made a solid but
\u200bstraightforward save in the 59’ on a shot taken from the edge of the Canadian
\u200bpenalty area.
In the 62’ David picked out Tajon
\u200bBuchanan in space with an excellent cross-field pass. Buchanan played a square
\u200bcross but couldn’t find the run of Larin.
Larin very nearly scored his second
\u200bof the match after the initial shot from David was saved by the keeper. The
\u200brebound fell right to the feet of the on-rushing Larin, but USA goalkeeper Matt
\u200bTurner was able to make a phenomenal second save to deny him (70’).
In the 76’, Borjan stood tall to
\u200bcut out a dangerous-looking cross into the box.
The USMNT had an excellent
\u200bopportunity to tie the score in the 87’. Paul Arriola found himself with tons
\u200bof space in behind the Canada defence and went for the overhead bicycle kick,
\u200bmaking good contact but the shot sailed wide.
In the 89’, Junior Hoilett made a
\u200bgreat run down the sideline before cutting inside to get past a defender, and
\u200bthen played a pass to find Adekugbe all alone, but the Canadian defender’s shot
\u200bwent over the crossbar.
In the final minute of stoppage
\u200btime, Canada was able to double the lead, securing the victory in the process.
\u200bKamal Miller’s long clearing effort was taken down brilliantly by Adekugbe with
\u200ba great first touch around the halfway line. That touch took him past the last
\u200bdefender and clear through on goal and he fired home the shot to make it 2:0
\u200b(90+5’).
Canada’s Starting XI featured Milan Borjan©, Alistair
\u200bJohnston, Steven Vitoria, Kamal Miller, Samuel Adekugbe, Richie Laryea, Mark-Anthon
\u200bKaye, Tajon Buchanan, Jonathan Osorio, Cyle Larin, and Jonathan David. Head
\u200bCoach John Herdman replaced Kaye with Liam Fraser (58’), Larin with Junior
\u200bHoilett (73’) and David with Ike Ugbo (84’).