PHILADELPHIA — After waiting six years to see the U.S. men’s soccer team in town again, Philadelphia soccer fans got their money’s worth on Saturday.

Gio Reyna scored in the fourth minute and assisted Folarin Balogun’s winner in the 71st to give the Americans a 2-1 win over Paraguay, extending their unbeaten run this fall to four games.

Reyna was the man of the hour from the moment the lineups came out. This was his first U.S. game since the Concacaf Nations League final four in March and his first start since last year’s Copa América group stage finale. It also was just his fifth start of the calendar year in any game for club or country because of injuries and bad form.

Reyna leapt to meet Max Arfsten’s cross after a corner kick got broken up. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder with so much unfulfilled talent ran to the corner flag, pointing to the U.S. crest on his jersey along the way, and his teammates joined him for a big group hug next to the TV cameras.

Paraguay equalized just over five minutes later with a lightning-fast and impressive play. Junior Alonso hit a long ball down the left flank for Miguel Almirón — after Reyna waited too long to press — and the Atlanta United star hit an inch-perfect first-time cross. Alex Arce was right on time, and slammed the finish past a frozen Matt Freese.

Almirón might have been an inch offside when the pass was played, but he otherwise left Joe Scally in the dust — in Scally’s first U.S. game since the Nations League flop. Arce then easily beat Miles Robinson, who has been a regular under manager Mauricio Pochettino but isn’t a surefire starter.

The Paraguay fans in the bipartisan crowd of 17,221, many of whom arrived early to tailgate, were thrilled.

After that, the game settled down for a while, and fans could observe how the U.S. was trying to play.

Pochettino set out a lineup that looked on paper like the 3-4-2-1 he’s used lately, but it had some wrinkles. Arfsten, who played left wingback sat a bit deeper than usual, while right wingback Sergiño Dest pushed up so high that it often looked like he was an attacking midfielder.

The result looked at times like a 4-2-3-1, with Scally as the right back, Medford’s Brenden Aaronson in a central attacking midfield role, Dest to Aaronson’s right, and Reyna to the left — though Aaronson and Reyna had the freedom to switch places.

Folarin Balogun led the line up top, Cristian Roldan and Tanner Tessmann were the central midfielders, and Tim Ream and Robinson stood at centerback.

It was a fluid setup all in all, and it produced some entertaining soccer.

The starting lineup stayed intact until the 67th minute and was just as lively as the first half. Aaronson was on the ball a lot, and Dest ripped a shot from atop the 18-yard box that Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill tipped over his bar.

That shot was Dest’s last action, as he and Scally departed for Diego Luna and Alex Freeman. The swaps shifted the U.S. formation to a traditional 4-2-3-1, with Freeman at right back and Luna, Reyna, and Aaronson in the attacking midfield roles from left to right.

Balogun struck for the lead in the 71st, after first intercepting a loose pass forced by Juan Cacéres. Roldan and Luna forced it with some hustle, and when Balogun got the ball he held it up to spring Reyna down the left flank. Reyna returned the favor with a square pass that was deflected but fell right for Balogun to finish.

Four minutes later, Pochettino sent in three more subs: Ricardo Pepi for Balogun at striker, Timothy Tillman for Reyna in attacking midfield, and Aidan Morris for Roldan in the center.

Freese made his big save for the night in the 78th, denying a long-range blast from Almirón.

After the ensuing corner kick, the U.S. went down the field, and Pepi should have made it 3-1 in front of an open net. But he was off-balance receiving it, and by the time he turned to his favored right foot, Paraguay’s Gustavo Gómez had raced to the goal line to block the shot.

The last U.S. sub was Sebastian Berhalter for Aaronson in the 80th, and the hometown hero got a big ovation from the crowd on his way out.

Things got dicey from there for the U.S., including a deflection off Arfsten right on 90 minutes that rolled inches wide of Freese’s far post.

Just over a minute later, a brawl erupted by the benches after Gómez and Freeman briefly argued over who would claim a dead ball on the field. Gómez put Freeman in a headlock, which sparked a melee that ensnared both teams’ active players and benches, coaches included. It was a sight rarely seen in soccer, but especially in a friendly without official stakes.

Referee Cristhofer Corado of Guatemala dished out a few yellow cards, and would have been well within his rights to end the game there instead of waiting out the announced four minutes of stoppage time. But play did resume, and the clock ran to 96 minutes when the final whistle came.

The U.S. now heads south to play another South American foe, Uruguay, in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday (7 p.m., TNT, Universo).

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