The U.S. earned a vital and hard-fought point in Mexico City on Sunday night, drawing 1–1 with Mexico. Michael Bradley opened the scoring with a goal for the ages, before Carlos Vela evened things up fifteen minutes later.

First half

Bruce Arena made some somewhat unexpected changes to his lineup, with starts for Brad Guzan, Omar Gonzalez, Tim Ream, DaMarcus Beasley, Kellyn Acosta, and Bobby Wood, perhaps indicating just how much he valued Thursday’s game over this one. Still, the U.S. 11 was solid, if conservative, with a five-man back line. Such things are sometimes called for in Azteca.

But the game had barely begun before something truly special happened. In the 6th minute, Bradley burst through the center circle to intercept a lazy square ball. His first touch took him through the first line of defense, and as he sprinted to catch up to the ball, he eyed Mexico’s keeper Guillermo Ochoa too far off his line. Bradley needed no second invitation, and with his next touch hit an audacious, driven chip over the keeper and into the goal, from 40 yards away. That’s one he will never forget.

Hope you didn’t tune in late to #USAvMEX.

Rewind to Michael Bradley’s incredible strike. Caught ’em sleeping 😴. pic.twitter.com/zUKykesw5W

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) June 12, 2017

Playing defense for 84 minutes plus stoppage time was never in the cards, and both teams were positive, pushing forward with speed whenever possible, with chances for each side, especially from set pieces. Unfortunately, it would be following a U.S. set piece that Mexico would equalize. A U.S. corner bounced and bounced in the box, with Bobby Wood just the closest of several U.S. players with a chance to put the ball away, but his shot was blocked and Mexico broke the other way. The U.S.’s transition defense was actually not completely awful, with numbers back, but the ball found Vela on the U.S. left. He cut inside with DaMarcus Beasley for company, but rode DB’s weak challenge with ease, and then placed a hard, low shot inside Brad Guzan’s near post through two U.S. defenders’ lunging legs.

After the goal, the game settled into a more expected pattern, with Mexico the primary attacking force and the U.S. looking to counter, giving up more fouls while trying to stay aggressive defensively. The pattern held until halftime, with no further goals.

Second half

The second half was a bit limp, compared to the first, with the U.S. doing a better job of killing Mexico attacks before they got close to goal. Arriola earned a yellow card for a professional foul in the center circle in the 56th minute. Presumably, Arena had made his feelings about Mexico’s goal crystal clear at halftime.

The downside, of course, is that fouls give up free kicks, and it nearly bit the U.S. after 71 minutes. Bradley sent Vela tumbling some thirty yards out on the U.S. center-right. Hector Herrera stepped up and smacked a laser beam straight into the crossbar, rattling both the woodwork and U.S. fans’ constitutions.

The U.S. would have Mexican hearts in mouths just a few minutes later, however, and again it was Bradley. Receiving a simple centering pass from Acosta some thirty yards out, he ripped a shot that beat Ochoa but pinged off the outside of the post.

Mexico had a handful of chances after that, but none that troubled Guzan. The U.S. mustered one or two efforts, as well, but no more goals were scored, and the U.S. left Mexico with a draw.

U.S. verdict

The lineup was underwhelming, but with a little assist from a Bradley golazo, it earned just the third-ever point at Azteca in World Cup Qualifying play for the U.S. That is a point to savor. Yes, Mexico dominated possession, as would be expected, but the U.S. held Mexico to just one shot on goal (and had two). It’s disappointing to have your one real mistake punished, but that’s life when you play Mexico away. No matter how you slice it, the U.S. goes home a whole lot happier with that game than Mexico does, and four points from these two qualifiers is exactly what the team needed.

Final thoughts

So far, all we can say is that the Bruce Arena 2.0 era is off to one heck of a start. He’s made the right calls and his players are performing at a high level. One wonders, however, what might have been had Christian Pulisic arrived on the scene two years ago. This Pulisic playing for Jurgen Klinsmann probably keeps him in the job. But that’s just make believe. Right now, all that matters is the U.S.’s Qualifying campaign is back on track.