Daryl Dike scored twice to pace the U.S. men’s national team to a 6-1 victory against Martinique in Kansas City, Kan., on Thursday – a win that advanced the U.S. to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The U.S. and Canada qualified from the four-team Group B with 2-0-0 records and six points, with one match left. They will play Sunday in Kansas City with the top spot at stake.
Haiti and Martinique, each with a pair of losses, also play Sunday, in Frisco, Texas.
Dike, in his second start and fifth appearance for the U.S., scored in the 14th minute. An own goal by Martinique defender Samuel Camille made it 2-0 in the 23rd. Miles Robinson’s header extended the lead to 3-0 in the 50th minute before Dike made it 4-0 in the 59th.
Matt Turner lost his shutout bid in the 64th minute when Emmanuel Rivière converted a penalty. But Gyasi Zardes upped the lead to 5-1 six minutes later, and Nicholas Gioacchini scored a critical goal in the 90th minute to allow the U.S. to equal Canada in the first tiebreaker — goal differential — at plus-6.
After an unimpressive 1-0 win vs. Haiti on Sunday, the U.S. looked to start strong Thursday, and Dike provided the spark with his header from the middle of the box. Matthew Hoppe, in his debut, had the assist.
The second goal was a scramble after a shot by Gianluca Busio hit the crossbar. Dike’s header pushed the rebound toward the goal, and it went off Camille.
Eryk Williamson’s cross set up Robinson’s second career goal, from 4 yards. Dike added the fourth score to become the second-youngest U.S. player (21 years, 42 days) to score two goals in a Gold Cup match, bettered only by Christian Pulisic (20 years, 288 days).
After Riviere’s goal, Zardes scored his 13th goal two minutes after stepping on the field, following a long pass from Cristian Roldan.
–Field Level Media