A record crowd in Wellington were treated to a tightly-contested first half of women's football this afternoon before the USA showed their world champion class against the Football Ferns to post a dominant win.
The US Women's National Team took down New Zealand 4-0 in the capital this afternoon after being kept scoreless in the opening 45 minutes by Jitka Klimkova's Kiwis.
The US certainly had their chances though with superstar Alex Morgan needing just five minutes to make the first attempt on goal although her header soared over the bar.
It was the start of a busy afternoon for Ferns keeper Erin Nayler who made a superb save in the 19th minute to keep the score goalless as time and time again the world No.1 US mounted attacks on her goal - one of which bounced off the left post in the 28th minute.
But still the Kiwis held out until finally the defence seemed to break with a free kick finding the back of the net late in the first half, only for the offside flag to go up against US striker Lindsey Horan.
It was the final act of a frustrating opening 45 minutes for the US and thrilling first half for the 12,508-strong crowd in attendance - a number which smashed the old benchmark of 7,236 against Japan in 2018.
But as the US had said all week - they weren't here for a holiday and in the second half, they showed it.
After another attempt went begging in the opening minute of the second half, Mallory Swanson finally put the US on the board in the 52nd minute as her perfectly-timed header floated over Nayler and under the crossbar into the goal.
That seemed to trigger the USWNT to go up a gear as their attack became relentless, allowing Morgan to score her 120th goal for her country in the 60th minute off a classy backheel pass from Rose Lavelle into the penalty area.
Swanson was back for a second three minutes later before a fourth goal to Lynn Williams silenced the crowd that was buzzing at the break.
In the end, the scoreline reflected the match - the world champions dominating in possession [75% to 25%], passes [693 to 246], pass accuracy [85% to 59%], shots [15 to 2] and shots on goal [8 to 1].
The game was the first of two friendlies between the World Cup hosts and World Cup holders with Eden Park hosting this weekend's rematch on Saturday.
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