Mauricio Pochettino’s penultimate match in charge of United States ended in an emphatic 6-0 thrashing of Haiti as he moved a step closer to beginning his Manchester United tenure.

The former Tottenham boss will start life at the Red Devils on Wednesday after two Nations League matches with Haiti, but USA all but assured their place in the semi-finals of the competition with a comprehensive first-leg showing.

Austin Trusty’s smart finish from a 10th-minute set-piece ensured Pochettino’s team were ahead at half-time before they ran riot after the break with Christian Pulisic able to net a brace either side of goals from Julian Hall, Weston McKennie and Folarin Balogun ahead of Tuesday’s second leg.

Pochettino paid tribute to his staff and players in an emotional press conference on Friday and duly watched USA start superbly in Miami a day later with Trusty finishing off Sebastian Berhalter’s free-kick.

That was the only goal of the first half, but six minutes into the second period Antonee Robinson got in behind the Haiti defence and crossed in for Hall to double the advantage.

It was then over to Pulisic, who converted a penalty from 12 yards in the 62nd minute and within 60 seconds added another with a fine low effort from outside the area.

McKennie followed it up with a close-range header from Malik Tillman’s corner to make it 5-0 after 69 minutes.

There was still time for substitute Balogun, who had a goal disallowed earlier on, to wrap up the scoring when he rifled home with eight minutes left after an excellent Tillman pass.