Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan scored three minutes apart early in the second half as Canada shut out short-handed El Salvador 2-0, clinching the top spot in CONCACAF Gold Cup Group B play on Tuesday in Houston.
Canada (2-0-1, 7 points) advances to the knockout round, while El Salvador (0-2-1, 1 point), which had two players ejected in the first half, returns home.
With an assist from Mathieu Choiniere, David got Canada on the board in the 53rd minute, delivering a right-footed shot from the left side to the bottom right corner.
Buchanan padded Canada’s lead in the 56th minute, notching a goal from the center of the box with a left-footed shot to the bottom left corner. Niko Sigur was credited with the assist.
El Salvador lost its first player in the 35th minute, when Santos Oritz was shown his second yellow card. Then in the ninth minute of first-half stoppage time, Jairo Henriquez received a red card for violent conduct.
Canada controlled the play with 80.3 percent of the possession and outperformed El Salvador in shots on goal (4-0), shot attempts (14-2) and corner kicks (13-1). Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau did not have to make a save for Canada, while El Salvador’s Mario Gonzalez notched two saves in a losing effort.
–Field Level Media
