MIAMI, United States, CMC – Jamaica’s Reggae Boys secured the highest spot of their group once they held off a decided problem from Haiti to carve out a 3-2 victory of their last preliminary sport of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Enjoying in Group B of League A on the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain on Sunday night time, Jamaica wanted second-half targets from Shamar Nicholson and Leon Bailey to interrupt a 1-1 half-time stalemate and take whole factors.
Israel-based ahead Frantzdy Pierrot had scored the primary purpose of his brace within the fifteenth minute to offer Haiti a shock lead earlier than Demerai Grey continued his glorious scoring type with an 18th-minute strike to degree the competition.
“I’m over the moon, to be truthful. I might’ve been happier if I’d gotten considered one of my possibilities,” stated Jamaica’s West Ham star Michail Antonio.
“To be truthful, we completed high of the league – that’s what we got down to do earlier than the competitors even began. So now we’ll discover out on Tuesday who we’ll play subsequent and hopefully win that sport and hold progressing.”
Jamaica twice went shut within the opening exchanges earlier than an unmarked Pierrot nodded in Fabrice Picault’s cross into the center of the field in opposition to the run of play.
The lead lasted solely three minutes. Nonetheless, Haiti’s protection didn’t clear Antonio’s cross into the field, leaving Grey to attain courtesy of a deflection.
Antonio fired over the bar within the twenty fourth minute earlier than Mechack Jérôme squandered an awesome probability to place Haiti forward when he struck the crossbar with a Forty first-minute free kick.
Jamaica took the lead within the 57th minute when half-time substitute Nicholson transformed Antonio’s right-sided cross into the realm, and Aston Villa winger Bailey added the third within the 66th when he escaped the off-side entice, raced on to Bobby Reid’s free kick out of midfield, and slotted previous goalkeeper Jhony Placide.
There have been anxieties in the direction of the top when Pierrot out-leaped the Jamaica protection to move in a nook within the 87th, however the French Caribbean aspect couldn’t discover the all-important equalizer regardless of the 5 minutes of stoppage.
In one other League A contest, Grenada slumped to a different heavy defeat, happening 4-0 to Suriname on the IR Franklin Essed Stadium in Paramaribo.
The end result marked the Spice Boys’ third loss, leaving them backside of Group B and relegated from League A.
In Group A of League B, each St Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis tasted defeat. Whereas St Lucia have been crushed 2-0 by Guadeloupe at Grande-Terre, the Kittitians suffered a 1-0 loss to Sint Maarten at residence in Basseterre.
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