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Cleveland • Matt Miazga scored on a closer-range header from Graham Zusi's corner kick in the 88th minute, giving the United States first place in its CONCACAF Gold Cup group with a 3-0 victory over Nicaragua on Saturday night.
Panama's 3-0 win over Martinique in the first match of the doubleheader meant the U.S. needed a three-goal win to move back over Los Canaleros into first. But the Americans struggled for long stretches against Nicaragua, a team ranked 105th by FIFA.
Joe Corona scored his first international goal in four years in the 37th minute and Kelyn Rowe doubled the lead in the 56th with his first international goal, but the U.S. squandered opportunities when Dom Dwyer and Corona took poor penalty kicks in the second half that easily were saved by Justo Lorente.
Nicargua's Luis Copete was ejected in the 86th minute for his second yellow card and Luis Galeano was receiving treatment for an injury, giving the U.S. had a two-man advantage when Zusi took his free kick from about 30 yards. Miazga, a Chelsea defender playing his first international match since May 2016, had an open header near a post and scored his first goal in three national team appearances.
The U.S. and Panama both finished with seven points and a plus-four goal difference, but the Americans won the group based on total goals, 7-6.
Next up for the U.S. is a quarterfinal Wednesday in Philadelphia against a third-place team from another group, likely Honduras, El Salvador or Jamaica. A second-place finish would have meant a U.S.-Costa Rica matchup.
U.S. coach Bruce Arena used a mostly junior varsity roster for the first round but plans to add reinforcements from the varsity for the knockout phase. —
MLS standings
EAST W L T Pts GF GA
Chicago 11 3 5 38 37 19
Toronto FC 11 3 5 38 34 19
New York City FC 10 6 3 33 36 24
Atlanta United FC 9 7 3 30 39 27
Orlando City 8 7 5 29 22 29
Columbus 9 10 1 28 30 32
New York 8 8 2 26 20 25
Philadelphia 6 7 5 23 25 21
Montreal 5 6 6 21 27 29
New England 5 9 5 20 29 31
D.C. United 5 11 3 18 14 31
WEST W L T Pts GF GA
Sporting Kansas City 8 4 8 32 24 14
FC Dallas 8 3 7 31 30 18
Houston 8 7 4 28 34 29
Portland 7 7 6 27 34 31
San Jose 7 7 5 26 22 26
Seattle 6 7 6 24 25 28
Vancouver 7 7 3 24 24 27
Los Angeles 6 8 4 22 28 32
Real Salt Lake 6 12 2 20 23 40
Colorado 6 11 1 19 19 27
Minnesota United 5 11 3 18 25 42
On international break until July 19
NWSL standings
W L T Pts GF GA
North Carolina 9 5 0 27 20 13
Chicago 7 3 4 25 18 13
Sky Blue FC 7 6 2 23 24 23
Portland 6 4 4 22 17 12
Seattle 5 3 5 20 24 17
Orlando 5 5 4 19 23 21
Houston 5 7 2 17 15 23
Kansas City 3 7 4 13 14 22
Boston 3 6 4 13 9 14
Washington 3 7 3 12 16 22
Saturday's games
Portland 1, Nort Carolina 0
Chicago 2, Sky Blue FC 2, tie
Orlando 4, Kansas City 1
Houston 2, Washington 1
Boston at Seattle, late
CONCACAF Gold Cup
GROUP A W D L GF GA Pts
x-Costa Rica 2 1 0 5 1 7
x-Canada 1 2 0 5 3 5
x-Honduras 1 1 1 3 1 4
French Guiana 0 0 3 2 10 0 July 7 at Harrison, N.J.
Canada 4, French Guyana 2
Costa Rica 1, Honduras 0
Tuesday at Houston
Costa Rica 1, Canada 1, tie
Honduras 3, French Guiana 0, forfeit
Friday at Frisco, Texas
Costa Rica 3, French Guiana 0
Canada 0, Honduras 0, tie
GROUP B W D L GF GA Pts
x-United States 2 1 0 7 3 7
x-Panama 2 1 0 6 2 7
Martinique 1 0 2 4 6 3
Nicaragua 0 0 3 1 7 0
July 8 at Nashville, Tenn.
United States 1, Panama 1
Martinique 2, Nicaragua 0
Wednesday at Tampa, Fla.
Panama 2, Nicaragua 1
United States 3, Martinique 2
Saturday at Cleveland
Panama 3, Martinique 0
United States 3, Nicaragua 0
GROUP C W D L GF GA Pts
Jamaica 1 1 0 2 0 4
Mexico 1 1 0 3 1 4
El Salvador 1 0 1 3 3 3
Curacao 0 0 2 0 4 0
July 9 at San Diego
Jamaica 2, Curacao 0
Mexico 3, El Salvador 1
Thursday at Denver
El Salvador 2, Curacao 0
Mexico 0, Jamaica 0
Sunday at San Antonio
Jamaica vs. El Salvador, 4 p.m.
Curacao vs. Mexico, 6:30 p.m.
x-advanced to quarterfinals