United States beat Australia to advance to World Cup knockout stages
Australia defender Cameron Burgess stabbed the ball into his own net after 11 minutes to give the US the lead at the Seattle Stadium.
US defender Alex Freeman added the second just before half time.
After the pause, Australia went on the front foot and pushed the hosts back. But they could not find the breakthrough to set up a grandstand finish for an equaliser.
"Overall I'm very happy with the response to the first half performance," said Australia head coach Tony Popovic.
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"It's a very inexperienced team at this level. We don't have the experience of playing in big leagues.
"The players could have easily caved in under the pressure physically and emotionally but we responded really well."
US head coach praises players
The US head coach Mauricio Pochettino was equally complimentary about his players who claimed victory without injured star striker Christian Pulisic.
"Christian is an important player for us," said the 54-year-old Argentine
"But we are a squad and if we want to win the competition we need the whole squad."
The US will claim top spot in Group D with a draw against Turkey on 25 June inLos Angeles.
On the same day, Australia take on Paraguay in San Francisco.
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"It's all about recovery now," said Australia skipper Harry Soutar.
"And we have to turn our full focus to the match against Paraguay."
Popovic echoed his skipper. "We've got to be pleased with how we played in the second half and it gives us something to build on.