Gerson Mayen and Rodolfo Zenaya scored quickfire goals to lead El Salvador to a 2-0 win over Curacao in both sides’ second match of the 2017 Gold Cup.
The three points give Los Cuscatlecos a shot at the knockout rounds, while Curacao will need an unlikely win over Mexico and help.
El Salvador failed to win a match at the 2015 Gold Cup, its first absence from the knockout rounds in three tournaments.
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Mayen, who plays for Santa Tecla in his home country, was on the business ends of a 1-2 to give El Salvador a lead in the 21st minute.
It was 2-0 three minutes later on a counter attack, as Nacional’s Nelson Bonilla spied Zenaya’s diagonal run and the goal scorer finished with a fair bit of class.