Haiti end with win, while history for Martinique’s Fortune

FRISCO, Texas – On a historic day at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas with the 1,000th goal scored in Concacaf Gold Cup history, Haiti edged Martinique 2-1 to complete both teams’ Group B campaign.

Martinique’s Kevin Fortune scored the historic goal in the 53’ with a header to mark the 1,000th score in 30 years of Gold Cup competition across 16 editions.

Haiti could not have asked for a better start, as they took an early 1-0 lead in the 3’ when Derrick Etienne Jr.’s cross deflected into the area and Carnejy Antoine was there to finish for his second goal of the tournament.

Antoine had a great chance to make it two in the 16’ when he collected a long ball, but his shot was wide of the mark at the near post. Later in the 25’, Haiti had back-to-back chances to score through Ronaldo Damus and Etienne Jr., but both were denied by Martinique GK Arnaud Huyghues Des Etages.

Martinique looked to get back into it in the second half and they would do so in memorable fashion. Fortune’s goal arrived in the 53’ when Abaul floated in a cross and the Martinique FW was there to head into net for Gold Cup goal 1,000.

But just shy of the hour mark, momentum tilted back in Haiti’s favor when Martinique’s Sebastien Cretinoir was sent off with a red card, reducing Les Matinino to 10 men with a half-hour to play.

The corresponding free kick for Haiti then saw Ricardo Ade fire a shot that took a slight deflection before rippling the back of the net for a 2-1 Haiti lead.

The Martinique comeback task grew even taller in the 78’ when Patrick Burner was sent off with a red card, leaving Martinique with nine men for the final minutes.

With the two-man advantage, Haiti were able to calmly see things out to end their tournament on a winning note.