PANAMA CITY, Panama.- A set-piece goal lifted Panama to a 1-0 victory over the United States on Sunday at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City in Concacaf World Cup Qualifying for Qatar 2022.
After falling 1-0 to El Salvador on Thursday, the Canaleros rebounded with aplomb and now sit on eight points. The U.S. remain with eight points following the result.
U.S. GK Matt Turner denied Freddy Gondola in what may have been the best chance of the first half. The Panama attacker was one-on-one with the shot-stopper in the 34th minute, but Turner got a hand up to keep the score at 0-0.
Turner would be beaten, however, in the 54th minute to give Panama a 1-0 advantage. A corner kick was played in and among a sea of heads, Anibal Godoy was the closest Panama player, leaping at the same time as Gyasi Zardes and putting the ball in past Turner.
GOL! ⚽ Panamá toma la ventaja en el Rommel Fernández 🏟️ tras un remate de cabeza de Aníbal Godoy en un tiro de esquina
— Concacaf (@Concacaf) October 10, 2021
⏱️ 54': 🇵🇦 1 🆚 0 🇺🇸#CWCQ
United States manager Gregg Berhalter, who made seven changes to his starting lineup from Thursday’s 2-0 win against Jamaica, turned to his bench to attempt to turn the tide, bringing on FW Ricardo Pepi, who had three goals in his last two qualification matches, DF DeAndre Yedlin and Christian Roldan.
Yet, Panama was able to control the pace of the final half-hour and celebrated its first home win of the final round of qualification.
Both squads now travel to North America, with the U.S. returning home for a match against Costa Rica in Columbus, Ohio, while Panama is off to Toronto’s BMO Field for a match against Canada.
