El Salvador 0, Jamaica 0 | 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup Match Recap

El Salvador and Jamaica faced off in 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup play on Friday, playing to a defense-dominant 0-0 stalemate at BBVA Stadium.

The two leaders in Group C coming into the second matchday, the draw improved their prospects of progressing, but did not book passage for either side. They will both need a result or other results to go their way to ensure passage to the knockout round.

Both teams struggled to find incisive attacking play, with the offense mostly coming up the middle and the respective defenses snuffing out chances before they could develop. The game's first shot on target came in the 76th minute.

Jamaica were perhaps rather fortunate that Junior Flemmings wasn't sent off. He picked up a yellow card for a hand to the face in the second half, then committed a similar foul less than 10 minutes later, but referee John Pitti opted not to show another yellow on the second foul.

Goals

• None

Three Things 

THE BIG PICTURE: This wasn't a vintage performance for either side on the attacking end, but Jamaica pushed for a winner more than El Salvador. Still, Jamaica will likely be more satisfied with the result, since they have Curacao up next and will have to like their chances in that game to book their ticket to the knockouts.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH
: Shaun Francis nearly grabbed the winner with the game's first shot on goal for Jamaica, but Henry Hernandez was up for the challenge.

MAN OF THE MATCH: This was a game tailor-made for a defensive midfielder, and Darwin Ceren did his part to stymie Jamaica's offense while helping El Salvador grind out a result in his regular home stadium on club level.

Next Up

• SLV: Tuesday, June 25 vs. Honduras (10:30 pm ET | FS1, UniMás, UDN) | Gold Cup
• JAM: Tuesday, June 25 vs. Curacao (8 pm ET | FS1, UniMás, UDN) | Gold Cup