MIAMI, Florida – Manuel Vidal scored a goal and saved two others to lead Dominican Republic side Moca to a 1-0 victory against Port of Spain of Trinidad and Tobago in Group B action on Friday in the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup at the Estadio Cibao in Santiago De Los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.
Vidal’s winning score came in the second half and then later he made two sensational defensive interventions to help his team nail down the three points. Moca now sit atop the group with three points.
It was a busy start with three shots, all from free kicks, hitting the woodwork in the first 20 minutes. Moca’s Sebastian Valencia did it first in the 6’, followed by the Port of Spain duo of John Paul Rochford and Tyrone Charles hitting the post back-to-back in the 16’ and 17’.
There was an increase in intensity at the start of the second half from both teams, and a Moca corner kick in the 55’ would yield the game’s first goal when Vidal rose above the Port of Spain defense and nodded home a header for a 1-0 Moca advantage.
Port of Spain were left stunned by the Moca goal, but eventually started to get forward in search of an equalizer.
It looked like it was going to come on 74 minutes on some nifty footwork from Che Benny, who slalomed past three defenders and had Moca GK Odalis Baez beaten with a shot, but goalscorer Vidal was there on the goal-line to prevent the goal.
The rebound fell just feet away to Charles, yet Vidal again answered the defensive call with a block to keep his side ahead.
From there, Vidal and the Moca defense battened down the hatches until the final whistle to collect the club’s first ever Concacaf win.
