The United States rode a pair of Daryl Dike goals to an easy 6-1 win over Martinique to book a spot in the knockout rounds of the 2021 Gold Cup on Thursday night in Kansas City.
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Dike opened the scoring for the U.S. with a glancing header from a nice cross into the box from Matthew Hoppe.
A Martinique own goal led to the second for the Americans, when after a goalmouth scramble and a near miss from Gianluca Busio the ball trickled into the net off of defender Samuel Camille.
The U.S. started hot after the break with Miles Robinson scoring before Dike netted a classy second to put Gregg Berhalther’s side up 4-0 before the hour mark.
Emmanuel Riviere struck from the penalty spot to get Martinique on the scoreboard, but Gyasi Zardes offset that strike soon after with a clinical shot on the back of a nice team move to restore the four-goal lead for the U.S.
Nicholas Gioacchini added further gloss to the scoreline, finishing a close-range shot from a Busio cross to make it 6-1 in favor of the U.S.
Next up for the U.S., sitting second in Group B, is a match against Canada on Sunday that will determine who advances as winners. with both teams already assured of a spot in the knockout rounds.
