KINGSTON, Jamaica, Nov 15, CMC – Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz held off a late rally from Mexico to register a tense 3-2 victory in their first-leg CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal match here on Saturday.
Playing at the National Stadium, Jamaica rushed out to a 3-0 lead, only for the visitors to score two late goals to set up a thrilling finish.
The home supporters were on their feet in the 27th minute when Mexican defender Jesús Gallardo deflected a corner kick delivery by Ronaldo Webster into the back of his own goal.
Jamaica then doubled their lead one minute into the second half when Renaldo Cephas capped off a beautiful solo run by curling his shot into the back of the net.
The contest seemed to be over when Richard King converted a 63rd minute penalty after Kaheim Dixon was judged to have be fouled in the box following a lengthy VAR review, to give the home side a healthy 3-0 lead.
But Gilberto Mora pulled one back for Mexico with a shot from outside the 18-yard box in the 70th minute and Julián Quiñones scored a penalty in the 81st minute to set up a nervy finish.
In the night’s other quarterfinal, the USA hammered Haiti 6-0 at the Nu Stadium in Miami to take a commanding lead into their second leg.
Auston Trusty opened the scoring for the United States in the 10th minute before Julian Hall made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute following a counterattack.
Christian Pulisic put the contest to bed with back-to-back goals in the 62nd and 63rd minutes, before Weston McKennie and Folarin Balogun got on the scoresheet in the 68th and 82nd minutes respectively to complete the rout.
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