Group B: Canada 4 Haiti 1
July 15 – Canada secured their place at the top of Group B and progression to the knockout rounds with what was, in the end, an emphatic 4-1 win over a Covid-depleted Haiti.
The pandemic has not been kind to the Haitians at the Gold Cup. They lost five players from their first match against the USA after testing positive. They lost another four before the Canada game leaving them with a squad of 14 including two goalkeepers and six defenders.
Out of the Haitian team were their two star strikers Frandtzy Pierrot and Duckens Nazon.
Canada have had injury issues of their own losing Bayern Munich starlet Alphonse Davies and Lille goalscoring machine Jonathan David to injuries prior to the tournament. However their squad still had 12 players from the MLS and a balance made up of those plying their trade across Europe.
The Canadians got off to a fast start. In the 5thminute Canada won a free kick 30 yards out. Stephen Eustaquiocurled the ball over the wall and into the bottom right corner of Bryan Silvestre’s goal, he probably should have done better.
While Canada had the dominance of possession, Haiti were very much in the game and could easily have gone in at half time in front if they had shown more composure in front of goal. The first half shot count was 5-2 in favour of the Haitians.
The second half saw another fast start from Canada.
In the 51stminiute an attack down saw the ball squared to Cyle Larin centre of goal whose first time shot found the back of the net. 2-0 Canada and it was starting to feel like job done for the Canadians.
However, this is a Haitian team forged from adversity. In the 53rdminute a defensive mix up saw Ronaldo Damus with just the keeper to beat, rounds him but fires over the bar. In the 55thHaiti did pull one back. A series of sharp passes across the Canadian box saw the ball move to Stephane Lambese who fired in for 2-1.
For 10 minutes it looked as though the game was back on but Haiti just didn’t have the depth to maintain their momentum.
In the 71stminute Canada’s Richie Laryeais brought down in the box by Alex Christian. After a VAR review Larin stepped up to score his second of the night to make it 3-1.
Haiti had run out of steam. On 77 minutes a red card for Francois Dulyssefor pulling down Ayon Akinola in the box sees Junior Holliett score from the spot to make it 4-1.
Canada now face the USA in a top of the table battle on Sunday while Haiti and Martinque will battle for the minor placings, assuming Haiti still have enough players.
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