Ten-man Martinique, sparked by nine saves from goalkeeper Yannis Clementia, on Monday held off El Salvador for a 2-1 Group C victory in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Martinique, eliminated in the group stage in the team’s past five Gold Cup appearances, had goals from Patrick Burner in the 11th minute and Kevin Fortune in the 16th, plus a late penalty save by Clementia.
After Jonathan Rivierez was sent off with a red card in the 48th minute, the Caribbean side tightened defensively and denied the Salvadorans a goal until the dying seconds of extra-time.
Photo: AFP
In a later match, Panama defeated Costa Rica 2-1 at the home stadium of Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami, soon to be the club of Argentine star Lionel Messi.
Panama opened the scoring in the 23rd minute on Jose Fajardo’s header off a cross from Eric Davis.
The Ticos were denied in the 25th when Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera was caught well away from the woodwork, but still able to deny a chip from Costa Rican teen Josimar Alcocer.
Unmarked Edgar Barcenas gave Panama a 2-0 lead in the 68th minute when he took a cross in the heart of the penalty area from Michael Murillo and nodded in a header off the left post.
Costa Rica scored in the first of three minutes of stoppage-time on a give-and-go goal from a steep angle off the left foot of Aaron Suarez.
It is to be a fight for the group lead when Panama and Martinique meet on Friday in Harrison, New Jersey.
Salvadoran turnovers set up both Martinique goals, the first after a cross-field pass found onrushing fullback Burner, who fired a left-footed shot over a sliding defender and just inside the far post.
Barely five minutes later, an interception by Brighton Lebeau and a setup pass from Karel Fabien led to Fortune blasting in a one-touch shot off the outside of his right foot from the heart of the box to give Les Matinino a 2-0 advantage.
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