The United States men's U-20 team had little issue getting over their opening game loss to Ukraine, beating Nigeria 2-0 on Monday at the U-20 World Cup at Stadion Miejski in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. Sebastian Soto, who plays in Germany with Hannover 96, scored a goal on either side of the half to help the U.S. pick up a vital win for them to potentially progress out of Group D.

D.C. United's Chris Durkin, who played all 90 minutes in the 2-1 loss to Ukraine, once again got a starting assignment from head coach Tab Ramos, and once again played all 90 minutes, putting in a strong shift in the win for the Americans. 

Soto was left completely unmarked on a corner in the 18th minute, heading in an important opener for the U.S. A deft finish in the first minute of the second half, taking advantage of the Nigerian keeper guessing early, allowed Soto to double his tally and the lead for the U.S.

Nigeria was given a penalty later on in the half as Mark McKenzie bundled over Kingsley Michael on a long ball in the box. However, with video review available, the penalty was waved off when Henry Offia was shown to be just offside on the original ball into the box.

Despite the win, the U.S. remain in third place in Group D, with Ukraine moving to the top of the table after a 1-0 win over Qatar. The U.S. can win their group with a win over Qatar on Thursday, if they get a favorable result between Nigeria and Ukraine. A win would nonetheless guarantee the U.S. a spot in the last 16, with any other result forcing them to sweat out other results.