da brdice： The United States are on course to reach the CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals, but they left it late to claim a 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago.

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Caribbean nation picked up first-half red cardU.S. struggled to make numerical advantage countLate flurry of goals secured first-leg leadWHAT HAPPENED?

The first leg of the quarter-final clash took place on Thursday, with the USMNT expected to make light work of Caribbean opposition. Said cause was aided when Noah Powder was sent off in the 37th minute, with the floodgates seemingly set to burst open at that point.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Goals did eventually flow for the States, but a flurry of efforts from Ricardo Pepi, Antonee Robinson and Gio Reyna were only recorded between the 82nd and 89th minutes. The U.S. toiled for long periods prior to that, with head coach Gregg Berhalter seeing plenty of room for improvement from his side.

WHAT THEY SAID

Explaining what went wrong, Berhalter told reporters afterwards: “We lacked a little bit of precision and you see there was a lot of moves in the first half that were pretty good moves that just the final pass was missing or the first touch was missing.”

He added on the positives that the USMNT can take from their latest outing: “We didn't lose structure. We didn't lose determination to try to get the goals and then when we did, you see we kept going and were able to get three, which puts us in a very good position to advance. We know we still have work to do. We know there's 90 minutes left, we're not done. But big credit to the guys.”

GettyWHAT NEXT?

The second leg of the last-eight showdown with Trinidad & Tobago will take place in Port-of-Spain on Monday, with the United States looking to put in another professional performance that will keep them on course to successfully defend their continental crown.