USA men's soccer keeps Olympic dreams alive with 4-1 win over New Zealand as Djordje Mihailovic scores first American goal at the games in 16 YEARS!

The United States struck early in their second group stage game against New Zealand with a victory securing them safety in the Paris Olympic Games.

Knowing that a loss would likely doom them to an early elimination, the Americans converted an early penalty and then tacked on two more in the first half to take a 3-0 lead.

They kept their momentum going with a strong start to the second half which saw goals scored by Paxten Aaronson before New Zealand pulled one back to bring forth the 4-1 final score.

In sum, it was the most dominant victory by an American men's team at the Olympics ever - a truly remarkable feat that sees them sit in second in Group A. 

With this win, the Americans now sit second in their group and could advance with a victory in their next game against Guinea on Tuesday.

Walker Zimmerman (3) celebrates scoring the second goal in a 4-1 victory over New Zealand

The Americans struck first thanks to a penalty converted by Djordje Mihailovic (14)

The Americans found their first goal in 16 years off a penalty conversion when Nathaniel Harriel was brought down in the box.

Djordje Mihailovic, one of the team's over-age players, stepped up and cleanly converted the kick to take the early advantage.

Their advantage was doubled just four minutes later off a free kick taken by Mihailovic whipped into the box. After hitting the head of Duncan McGuire, the ball fell for Harriel. 

His shot was saved, but fell in the path of Walker Zimmerman - who poked it home to take the 2-0 lead.

A third goal arrived on the half hour mark with a strong run from John Tolkin. His ball into the box found Kevin Paredes, who was taken down in the box and may have earned a penalty shout.

But with no whistle blown, Gianluca Busio took one shot that was blocked by the keeper back at him. His second-chance toe poke was much more accurate and found the net for a 3-0 advantage.

In the second half, the Americans swapped striker McGuire for Griffin Yow - who immediately made his impact known.

Yow made a strong run after getting the ball off a turnover and cut the ball back for Paxten Aaronson - who curled it across the mouth of goal into the right side netting to go up 4-0.

Gianluca Busio (6) celebrates with teammates after scoring the third goal of the match

Paxten Aaronson (L) celebrates with substitute Griffin Yow after taking a 4-0 lead

That's the first time in American history that the men's soccer team has scored four goals in an Olympic match. 

Late attempts by substitutes Yow and Benjamin Cremaschi were ruled offside and just missed the net respectively by the time the 75 minute mark arrived. 

But New Zealand managed to get a goal back for the 'OlyWhites' as substitute Jesse Randall executed a perfect spin-and-shot that slotted perfectly into the net.

However, it was too late to mount a comeback for New Zealand and the Americans held on to stop any further damage to seal their most dominant win for the U-23 team at the Olympics.