An early second half goal from Herculez Gomez was enough to secure victory over Jamaica as the US national team won 1-0 in front of a sold out crowd of 23,884 at Columbus Crew Stadium on Tuesday night.
It took the US 55 minutes to break the deadlock in a game that could’ve seen Jurgen Klinsmann’s side run away with the lead after hitting the woodwork three times and out-shooting the Jamaicans by 10 attempts to 0.
The second half started a little brighter for the “Reggae Boyz” who decided not to sit back and absorb pressure as they had done throughout the first 45 minutes, but a sloppy tackle on forward Clint Dempsey gave the US a free kick about 30 yards from goal.
Gomez was able to lift his shot up and over the wall and beyond the despairing dive of Jamaican `keeper Dwayne Miller who really should’ve stopped the ball from nestling in the back of his goal.
The US took their foot of the pedal after the goal and allowed Jamaica the chance to get back into the game, however, the Jamaicans failed to take advantage, lacking any real offensive threat the team never troubled US `keeper Tim Howard.
After last weeks loss in the reverse fixture in Kingston, Jamaica, tonight’s win puts the US team firmly back in the hunt for qualification and level on points with both Jamaica and Guatemala.