Ecuador walked over Haiti 4-0 on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey to clinch their spot in the quarterfinals of the Copa America Centenario.
This is Ecuador's fourth overall victory over the Haitian in six matches. The Ecuadorians have now defeated the island nation in three consecutive matches. However, this victory had more meaning to it since Los Amaraillos secured their place in the next stage as second place in group B.
La Tricolor overwhelm the Haitians
In every aspect of the game, the South Americans dominated the Caribbean nation. Only in yellow cards and saves did Les Grenadiers finish with more than La Tri. The Ecuadorians were able to out shoot Haiti 22 to eight. Even with shots on targets Los Amarillos were able to finish with a 10 to three advantage.
The final score of this match easily might have been six, seven or eight to nothing if it was not for Haitian goalkeeper Johnny Placide who made six saves. Plus the South Americans missed multiple chances in the match that led to a four-goal victory.
Ecuador's fast pace attack was led by Jefferson Montero, Enner Valencia, Antonio Valencia and Jaime Ayovi. These four players kept pushing the Haitian defense to crumble at the start of the match. By running down the flanks and moving the ball around the field with ease. They also ended up scoring twice in the first 20 minutes of the game.
The first goal came from E. Valencia. Teammate Christian Noboa sent the West Ham United striker running down the left-hand side of the penalty box. Valencia collected the ball and ran uncontested in the box. Before the defense was able to recover he curved the ball around the keeper and into the right-hand corner of the net to give Ecuador the 1-0 advantage in the 11th minute.
Nine minutes later La Tri doubled the score with an Ayovi tap in. E. Valencia did all the work as he made a hard run into the box; he could off finish the play himself. However, after the Haiti keeper was committed to him, he quickly dished out to running Ayovi who was parallel to him. The 28-year-old striker easily and calmly made it 2-0 at the 20th minute.
Haiti showed some life
After going down 2-0, the Caribbean nation was able to regroup a bit and string together some counters on La Tricolor. The Haitians pace started to become a factor as the Ecuadorians started to ease off. They created five of their eight shots after they conceded the second goal.
They nearly broke through when midfielder Sony Norde sent in a curving ball to the center of the box from a set piece. Defender Mechack Jerome soared in the air to hammer the ball towards the goal. The ball was heading into the net, but instead, the ball dinged off the crossbar and the Ecuadorians breathed a sigh of relief.
Los Amarillos finish off the match
The score went into the halftime break 2-0 in the South Americans favor. However, if Les Bicolores scored one goal then the Ecuadorian second round hopes would be in jeopardy. La Tricolor had to win this match by two goals to lock in their spot in the quarterfinals.
La Tri took no more chances and picked up their efforts. It started with the speedy Juan Cazares coming in for Ayovi at the start of the second half. The addition of Cazares brought more havoc to an exhausted back line.
A few minutes later the South Americans extended their lead. Noboa was able to complete the close range shot in the 57th minute to make it 3-0. Regardless, that it took the Ecuadorians 21 minutes to get their fourth goal, there were no questions of who was going to win the match. Finally in the 78th A. Valencia sealed the 4-0 victory and placed Ecuador in the knockout stage.
End of the road for Haiti, who La Tri face next
Les Grenadiers Copa America ends with this 4-0 defeat. The Caribbean nation finished in dead last with zero points and a negative 11 goal differential. As for the La Tricolor, they will be moving to the next round. Los Amarillos will face the United States on Thursday at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington.