Romell Quioto scored in the 33rd minute and Dixon Ramirez iced the game with a second-half stoppage-time goal as Honduras beat El Salvador 1-0 in CONCACAF Gold Cup play in Houston on Saturday night.
Paired with Curacao’s 1-1 draw with Canada earlier in the day, Honduras’ win really jammed up the Group B standings with one match remaining before the knockout stage.
Honduras improved to 1-1-0 and sits one point behind Canada with three points. Curacao is two back with two draws and El Salvador (0-1-1) has one point. No team has clinched a spot in the knockout round as all four squads have a shot at finishing with at least four points.
Canada will face El Salvador next Tuesday while Honduras takes on Curacao.
Quioto opened the scoring on a nifty give-and-go with Edwin Rodriguez. After passing the ball to Rodriguez from just inside midfield, Quioto sprinted toward the net and split two defenders. Rodriguez hit him in stride with a pass and Quioto buried the shot from just inside the box. It was the team’s first goal of the tournament after taking a 6-0 beating from Canada in the opener on Tuesday.
With El Salvador pressing in an attempt to get the tying goal, Yustin Arboleda headed a crossing attempt from inside the Honduras box, sending the ball to Ramirez. He then sprinted down the field, got past goalkeeper Mario Gonzalez — who was playing up at midfield — and easily scored into the empty net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to put the game away.
–Field Level Media
