Copa América continues this evening with two tightly-matched fixtures as Ecuador took on Jamaica, and Venezuela will play Mexico. Here is what has gone down so far.
Ecuador 3-1 Jamaica
Scorers: Palmer (OG) 13′, Páez (P) 45+4′, Minda 90+1′; Antonio 54′
Ecuador hung on to collect a vital three points in a narrow victory over Jamaica.
It was a fiery affair from the very start, as many of these Copa América games have been, and Ecuador benefitted from the chaos first.
What appeared to be a cross from Piero Hincapié from the touchline took a slight deflection before some careening into back of the net from an extremely acute angle.
Ecuador doubled their lead with nearly the last kick of the half thanks to youngster Kendry Páez, who dispatched a penalty-kick after Jamaica was called for a handball in the box.
Luckily for the Reggae Boyz, they have plenty of attacking talent on their side to balance the scales, and West Ham man Michail Antonio got them rolling after the break but striking and cutting the deficit in half.
The drama was ramped up when after a lengthy VAR review for a potential handball in the Ecuadorian box, no penalty was give, much to the chagrin of the Jamaican players and bench.
That gut-punch seemed enough to take the wind out of their sails, and Ecuador capitalized with a stunning solo goal from Alan Minda to drive the final nail into the coffin.
Still to come
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