The US national team put in an uneven performance in battling Rio Tinto Stadium guests Venezuela to a 1-1 friendly draw on Saturday night.
In a game that was more successful as a tune-up for next week's World Cup qualifiers than it was for the result, the Nats struggled to turn menacing attack possession into chances until wonder boy Christian Pulisic came up with a big play to level matters midway through the second frame.
Tim Howard (7) - Most of the netminder's work came in the 34th minute, when he was forced into a pair of saves. After rejecting a long drive, Howard made a huge stop on the resulting corner kick.
DeAndre Yedlin (7.5) - Though he was a busier body in the first half, Yedlin and his wheels were a constant nuisance to Venezuela. He did make a couple of strong recovery plays, but most of his impact came going forward. The Newcastle defender was once often downgraded as an attacking threat due to inconsistency in providing dangerous crosses; in this game, six of his seven serves into the box caused stress and three found a teammate.
Geoff Cameron (7) - It was a strong 45 minutes of central defense work from the Stoke City handyman. He stopped a handful of Venezuela rushes and repeatedly pushed his team forward with incisive passes and dribbles.
John Anthony Brooks (6) - The Wolfsburg catch kept Venezuela danger man Salomon Rondon in his pocket before departing with a nick near the hour mark. However, Brooks does take a small demerit for the away side's goal. Though it was not his mark that scored, the defender did miss the cross as it came through his area.
Jorge Villafana (7.5) - Like Yedlin, the US left back spent much of the game pinning Venezuela back with flank approaches and also put some dangerous balls into the away area. The Sueño MLS product made two key plays leading up the tying goal: his shrewd steal in the US box started them forward and it was his quick re-entry feed to Fabian Johnson that sparked the actual scoring move.
Michael Bradley (5.5) - Apart from one bad giveaway, Bradley was decent but unspectacular on the ball. He also did a solid job of stepping in to halt rushes up the middle, but was bailed out by Howard after snoozing on a corner kick mark.
Fabian Johnson (5) - His assist pass to Pulisic was the highlight of an otherwise frustrating shift. His decision making in good attack positions was often subpar, and he gave up his man before the ball was truly cleared on the Venezuela goal.
Christian Pulisic (7.5) - For most of the match, the Borussia Dortmund prodigy was solid without quite being deadly. When the clock struck the hour, he came up with a huge play to impact the outcome. Pulisic's coolness at the top of the box started with a patient space-making maneuver and ended with a well-placed shot to tie the game.
Darlington Nagbe (7) - This was a "just what you'd expect" showing from the Portland possession master, who time after time was key in keeping his team on the front foot.
Clint Dempsey (4.5) - It was an empty night for the Seattle star man, who failed to trouble the visitors when in shooting positions and was oddly absent from the link game. What's worse, he kept the Venezuela scorer onside after a meek clearance attempt as the front post guard.
Bobby Wood (4.5) - The Hamburg forward worked the away defense a bit in the early stage of the game, but faded from view after that. Wood also struggled with his touch on this night.
Coach Bruce Arena (6) - Perhaps it was a slightly underwhelming outing, but that was mainly due to the ineffectiveness of the two forwards. The second half switch to a 3-5-2 didn't really change the flow of the game, but it certainly wasn't a disaster.
Subs:
Omar Gonzalez (6) - The halftime sub didn't actually have a whole lot to do.
Matt Hedges (6) - The FC Dallas man was a safe relief hand in his long-awaited return to the USMNT picture.
Tim Ream (5.5) - The Fulham veteran didn't have any major breakdowns, but was definitely troubled a few times by speedy sub Jefferson Savarino.
Kellyn Acosta (6.5) - There was a sloppy moment or two from Acosta, but he did play three positive passes into the final third and serve a pair of nice restarts in less than 30 minutes.
Jordan Morris (6) - Though he came close a couple times, the Seattle speedster couldn't quite break loose.
Graham Zusi (6.5) - It was only a stoppage time cameo, but Zusi gets a mark for a nice tackle that halted one Venezuela push.
