After a long match where the United States absolutely dominated possession from the opening whistle but failed to deliver the final ball through a packed Ecuadorian defense, the Americans were able to snatch a flukey deflected goal from distance by Gyasi Zardes to walk away with a victory.
In contrast to expectations, Ecuador chose to bottle themselves up from the start rather than attempting to play out into the US in any shape. As a result, the US entirely controlled the game and looked utterly unbothered in defense, while still struggling to seize the lead.