Guatemala are a step closer to the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup group stage after posting a 4-0 victory against Guyana in the First Round of the 2021 Gold Cup Prelims on Saturday night at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

With the win, Guatemala will now face Guadeloupe on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to Group C along with Costa Rica, Jamaica and Suriname.

The match started at an incredible tempo with the two teams going back and forth at each other. Guatemala’s Darwin Lom nearly broke the deadlock in the 12’ with a header that was destined for goal, but Guyana defender and captain Matthew Briggs made a last-gasp goal-line clearance to keep it scoreless.

Guatemala continued with the pressure and it bore fruit in the 21’ when a Stheven Robles shot from distance took a slight deflection off the leg of a Guyana defender Reiss Greenidge and bounced past wrong-footed Guyana goalkeeper Kai McKenzie-Lyle for a 1-0 Guatemala lead.

Guyana’s comeback task got a lot tougher in the 40’ when Keanu Marsh-Brown was sent off with a straight red card, leaving the Golden Jaguars with 10 men.

Guatemala looked to make their man advantage count in the second half and they got a second goal in the 54’ when Luis Martinez swooped onto a loose ball in the area and scored to make it 2-0.

Guyana hung tough and looked to get back to within a goal, but Emery Welshman and Omari Glasgow could not find a way past Guatemala goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen in a span of two minutes.

Any hopes of a Guyana comeback were dashed, though, when Lom nodded in a header from a few yards out in the 71’ for a 3-0 advantage.

The night was then capped by another header for a goal, this time through Jose Martinez in the 80’, to round out the 4-0 scoreline.