Jesus Ferreira, USMNT clobber Saint Kitts and Nevis in Gold Cup

Jesus Ferreira scored three goals and Djordje Mihailovic had two goals and two assists to lead the United States men’s national team to a 6-0 win over St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday in St. Louis, tying them for first place in Group A with Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The top two teams progress to the next round.

Ferreira’s first goal made it 3-0 in the 16th minute, and he scored another nine minutes later before completing his hat trick in the 50th minute for a 5-0 lead.

The United States, which was anticipated to dominate the first encounter between the countries, got the major result it needed after Jamaica crushed Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 earlier Wednesday.

Both Jamaica and the Americans have four points (1-0-1) with one game remaining before the elimination phase, but the Americans have the tiebreaker: a plus-6 goal differential to Jamaica’s plus-3.

The United States plays Trinidad and Tobago (1-1-0, 3 points) in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday, while St. Kitts and Nevis (0-2-0, 0 points) plays Jamaica in Santa Clara, Calif.

When Mihailovic converted a feed from Busio in the 12th minute, he began a run of four goals in 13 minutes.

Bryan Reynolds scored his first goal for the United States in the 14th minute on his 22nd birthday. Alex Zendejas’ corner kick bounced twice before Reynolds blasted a shot from 22 yards.

Ferreira made it 3-0 with a run down the right wing after a pass from Busio, and he grabbed a through ball from Mihailovic and ran free for the fourth USMNT goal, making him the fastest USMNT player to achieve 10 career goals (20 games).

For the second time (Cuba in 2015), the United States scored four goals in the first half of a Gold Cup encounter.

After Ferreira made it 5-0, Mihailovic scored in the 79th minute for his third goal in eight games, giving the USMNT its greatest margin of victory in a Gold Cup encounter.

Sean Johnson of the United States made no saves.