CONCACAF Gold Cup 2019: Andres Guardado's second-half brace helps Mexico beat Canada

Los Angeles: Andres Guardado scored two second-half goals as Mexico moved to the top of their CONCACAF (The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Gold Cup group with a 3-1 victory over Canada on Wednesday. Guardado scored from long-range in the 54th minute and added another, 13 minutes from time to give the Mexicans a second straight win at Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado after they had thrashed Cuba 7-0 in the Group A opener. [caption id=“attachment_6852481” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mexico’s midfielder Andres Guardado celebrates after scoring a goal against Canada. Reuters[/caption] Roberto Alvarado opened the scoring in the 40th minute as Mexico, without star players Javier Hernandez, Hector Herrera and Carlos Vela, made it two wins out of two on their quest to lift the Gold Cup for the eighth time. Lucas Cavallini pulled one back for the 2000 CONCACAF champions Canada in the 75th minute when he latched on to Jonathan David’s pass and slid the ball under goalkeeper Francisco Ochoa. But two minutes later Guardado sealed the victory when his shot deflected up off the foot of Canadian defender Alphonso Davies and into the net. Canada had beaten Martinique 4-0 in their first match in the continental championship for North American, Central American and Caribbean sides. But Martinique kept their hopes of advancing to the knockout stages from Group A alive with a 3-0 win over Cuba courtesy of goals from Joris Marveaux, Stephane Abaul and Kevin Fortune.