Copa América continued Wednesday night with two tightly-matched fixtures as Ecuador took on Jamaica, and Venezuela clashed with Mexico. Here’s what went down in Group B.
Venezuela 1-0 Mexico
Scorers: Rondón (P) 56′
Venezuela fended off late Mexico strain to gather all three factors due to a Salomón Rondón penalty.
In contrast to the Jamaica, Ecuador showdown earlier within the night time, Mexico and Venezuela didn’t fairly present the identical quantity of attacking ferocity, however there was loads of drama to notice.
After a first-half void of high quality within the ultimate third, Venezuela lastly received their likelihood to grab the lead when Julián Quiñones was whistled for a foul within the field, forcing the referee to award a spot-kick.
Veteran striker Salomón Rondón, who performs in Mexico, stepped up drove the dagger in from the spot to dent the scoresheet.
Mexico seemed to strike again, however some heroic Rafael Romo goalkeeping stored Venezuela within the lead previous the hour mark.
After knocking on the door, Mexico lastly discovered the fortune they wanted when a Venezuela defender raised his arm to dam a shot, and El Tri had been awarded a penalty of their very own.
The fortune wouldn’t final lengthy nonetheless, as Orbelín Pineda stepped up and despatched a gradual, rolling penalty try proper on the keeper.
Regardless of one other late push, Mexico couldn’t discover the ultimate end to grab a degree.
Ecuador 3-1 Jamaica
Scorers: Palmer (OG) 13′, Páez (P) 45+4′, Minda 90+1′; Antonio 54′
Ecuador held on to gather an important three factors in a slender victory over Jamaica.
It was a fiery affair from the very begin, as many of those Copa América video games have been, and Ecuador benefitted from the chaos first.
What seemed to be a cross from Piero Hincapié from the touchline took a slight deflection earlier than some careening into again of the online from a particularly acute angle.
Ecuador doubled their lead with almost the final kick of the half due to teen Kendry Páez, who dispatched a penalty-kick after Jamaica was known as for a handball within the field.
Fortunately for the Reggae Boyz, they’ve loads of attacking expertise on their aspect to stability the scales, and West Ham man Michail Antonio received them rolling after the break however placing and slicing the deficit in half.
The drama was ramped up when after a prolonged VAR evaluation for a possible handball within the Ecuadorian field, no penalty was give, a lot to the chagrin of the Jamaican gamers and bench.
That gut-punch appeared sufficient to take the wind out of their sails, and Ecuador capitalized with a surprising solo objective from Alan Minda to drive the ultimate nail into the coffin.
