Jose Fajardo scored in the 83rd minute to help Panama stun a short-handed United States team 2-1 in Group C of Copa America in Atlanta on Thursday.
His goal came with the U.S. down a man when Tim Weah was issued a red card in the 18th minute. The sides evened in the 88th when Adalberto Carrasquilla of Panama was sent off for a hard foul on Christian Pulisic.
The U.S. (1-1-0, 3 points) will likely need to beat Uruguay on Monday in the last group match to advance to the knockout round.
Panama (1-1-0) also has three points.
It was a costly night all around for the U.S. with goalkeeper Matt Turner being lifted at halftime with a leg injury after a collision with Panamanian defender Cesar Blackman in the 12th minute.
Weah was ejected via video review for a shove to the back of the head of Roderick Miller away from the ball during a frenetic and heated start to the match.
Folarin Balogun scored in a second straight match for the U.S. in the 22nd minute before Blackman tied the score four minutes later.
The best chance in the second half for the Americans occurred in the 81st minute. Ricardo Pepi’s header was saved by Orlando Mosquera and Panama responded with the winner.
The U.S. appeared to take the lead in the fifth minute when Weston McKennie scored but the goal was overturned upon review because Tim Ream was offside.
Seven minutes later, Blackman plowed into Turner while he was trying to grab the ball out of the air. Turner went down for several minutes and the U.S. was incensed that Blackman was not given a yellow card.
After Weah’s sendoff, Balogun electrified the crowd with a wicked strike from 17 yards to the upper right corner for his fifth international goal.
The euphoria didn’t last long as Blackman scored on the counter from the top of the box.
Ethan Horvath replaced Turner and almost faced a huge moment in the 64th minute but a penalty on U.S. defender Cameron Carter-Vickers was overruled by video review.
–Field Level Media
