Jesus Ferreira scored three times and Djordje Mihailovic had two goals and two assists to lead the U.S. men’s national team to a 6-0 rout of St. Kitts and Nevis in St. Louis on Wednesday to move into a tie atop Group A with Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The top two teams advance.
Ferreira’s first goal in the 16th minute made it 3-0 and he added another nine minutes later before completing the hat trick in the 50th minute for a 5-0 lead.
Gianluca Busio added two assists for the U.S., who was expected to dominate the first meeting between the countries and got the big outcome it needed after Jamaica defeated Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 earlier Wednesday.
Jamaica and the Americans each have four points (1-0-1) with one game left before the knockout round, but the U.S. owns the tiebreaker — a plus-6 goal differential compared to plus-3 for Jamaica, which tied the U.S. 1-1 on Saturday.
Group play ends Sunday when the U.S. plays Trinidad and Tobago (1-1-0, 3 points) in Charlotte, N.C., while St. Kitts and Nevis (0-2-0, 0 points) faces Jamaica in Santa Clara, Calif.
Mihailovic started a stretch of four goals in 13 minutes when he slotted a pass from Busio in the 12th minute.
Bryan Reynolds scored his first U.S. goal on his 22nd birthday in the 14th minute. A corner kick by Alex Zendejas bounced twice before Reynolds ripped a shot from 22 yards.
Ferreira extended the advantage with a run down the right flank off a pass by Busio to make it 3-0, and he took a through ball from Mihailovic and broke free for the fourth U.S. goal, one which made him the fastest USMNT player to reach 10 career goals (20 games).
The U.S. scored four goals in the first half of a Gold Cup match for the second time (Cuba in 2015).
After Ferreira made it 5-0, Mihailovic scored his third goal in eight games in the 79th minute as the USMNT equaled its largest margin of victory in a Gold Cup match.
U.S. goalkeeper Sean Johnson did not make a save.
–Field Level Media