Having drawn the short straw by opening against Gold medal favourites France – and duly fallen to a not-unsurprising 3-0 defeat on day one – the United States wasted little time in grabbing the initiative. Just seven minutes in, they were aided by Matthew Garbett, who floored Nathan Harriel inside the area with an errant leg.
There could only be one outcome, and despite the pressure of atoning for several key misses against France weighing on him, Djordje Mihailovic calmly sent Paulsen the wrong way with a side-footer down the middle.
The Americans doubled their lead five minutes later, after some calamitous defending from the Kiwis. Mihailovic played in a free kick from the right flank, and after a number of deflections amidst several bodies forced Paulsen into a weak parry, Walker Zimmerman seized the loose ball to roll it over the line and further fuel New Zealand's fears of a rout.
It was only then that the OlyWhites decided to make a game of it, and they were soon denied a penalty despite a VAR review, after Harriel appeared to bring down Sarpreet Singh.
Clearly in no mood to allow any way back for the New Zealanders, Gianluca Busio all but sealed the United States’ points on the half-hour mark.
The killer third began with John Tolkin marauding down the left flank and crossing to a criminally under-marked Kevin Paredes.
He in turn squared to Busio, who fired beyond Paulsen after seeing his initial shot blocked, adding further misery to a huge reality check for New Zealand after their opening win against Guinea.
With the game long over as a contest it was just a question of ‘how many’. And the abacuses were out just short of the hour mark, when a long ball upfield confused Finn Surman and saw him botch an attempted clearance.
Instead, he allowed Griffin Yow to burst through and square back to Paxten Aaronson, who duly fired through the guilty defender’s legs and into the OlyWhites’ net.
That only added further misery to a traumatic evening for New Zealand, though they had sufficient time to net a consolation via Jesse Randall, who turned and fired high into the top-right corner after receiving an incisive pass from Garbett.
The Kiwis’ consolation denied the US men’s team only a second Olympic shutout since the start of 2000, but it will be a mere afterthought for the Americans, after a performance that truly reflected their ability to capitalise on opposition errors in the final third.
They now firmly have the driving seat, as they look to at least finish as ‘best of the rest’ behind favourites France.
Flashscore Man of the Match: John Tolkin (United States)
