USMNT vs. Canada: Key takeaways from a raucous rivalry match

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The United States Men's National Team beat Canada 1-0 in St. Paul, Minnesota, to close out its first post-World Cup window with four wins in four matches.

Orlando City striker Justin Ellis, still just 19 years old, scored the game's only goal in the 29th minute after connecting onto Alex Freeman's well-placed cross.

This was the USMNT's second straight clean sheet after beating Mexico 3-0 in Glendale, Arizona. It closes out its fall friendly window with a cumulative record of twelve goals scored and three conceded.

Here are the key takeaways from a feisty rivalry match in Minnesota:

This friendly was anything but

When the USMNT played Chile — a notoriously chippy team — earlier in this window, the two outfits racked up a cumulative 10 fouls between them. The USMNT and Canada more than doubled that in the opening 45 minutes of this match, notching 23 fouls (10 for the USMNT and 13 for Canada) in the first half before closing out the game with a grand total of 43 combined. If you thought this game looked spiky, aggressive and uncoordinated, you weren't seeing things: it was easily the USMNT's most fractured and physical game since the World Cup. 

Not every game is beautiful. Sometimes, you just need to hang on and stay healthy against an opponent that's determined to drag you down at ever opportunity. The USMNT did exactly that, and while it won't remember this performance fondly, it will take plenty from the fact that it battled, suffered and won all the same.

Instinct mattered once again

When dealing with young talent, you can't expect perfection in every match. Teenaged players are (literally) still growing and aren't always capable of delivering the senior-level performances that the game demands of them. What you can — and probably should — expect, though, is a solid set of instincts, and Orlando City's 19-year-old striker Justin Ellis showed those instincts off in spades against Canada. His run onto Alex Freeman's perfect cross was exactly the kind of finish a senior striker would make. Ellis still has plenty to learn, but like his feted teammate Julian Hall, he's proved that he has a solid instinctual foundation to build upon.