The U.S. U-20s defeated the Senegalese 1-0 at Incheon Stadium in South Korea, taking them to the top of Group F and in prime position to advance to the Round of 16.
The winning goal in the 34th minute started with a deft heel flick by Tyler Adams which released wide midfielder Luca de la Torre on the right side of the box. De la Torre found himself completely free and passed to forward Joshua Sargent, who spun his defender in the box and finished with a left-footed strike for his third goal in two matches.
The USA were the more dangerous team in the match, mainly in the first half, while being rarely troubled defensively by Senegal as the center back pairing of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Erik Palmer-Brown calmly extinguished most threats with goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann seeing little action.
In front of the back line, Philadelphia Union central midfielder Derrick Jones earned his first start of the tournament in place of Arsenal's Gedion Zelalem, who suffered a left knee injury in the opener that will keep him out of the tournament. Alongside influential D.C. United academy product Eryk Williamson, Jones patrolled the midfield with authority despite only being cleared by FIFA to join the USA before the tournament given his previous participation in Ghana's youth national team set-up. Williamson played 83 minutes before being replaced by Real Salt Lake defender Justen Glad, who came on to play the final seven minutes to seal the result for his first action since picking up a knee injury in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship match in March.
Coupled with Saudi Arabia's 2-1 win over Ecuador in the other Group F match on Thursday, the USA sit at the top of their group after two matches and will look to cement their spot in the Round of 16 on Sunday in Daejeon when they take on Saudi Arabia (5 AM ET on FS1).
