How it happened
Aruba spent most of the evening at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua camped in Anguilla's half, yet needed two goals deep in stoppage time to take the points in League C, Group B. Both arrived at 90+3', from A. Mercera and J. Peterson, and turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win.
C. Fermina gave Aruba an early lead in the 7th minute. Anguilla levelled through N. Owen in the 39th, and the sides went in at 1-1 under cloudy skies. A. Fleming then put Anguilla ahead in the 77th minute, a lead that held until the very end. There were no red cards.
The numbers
The statistics explain why the comeback felt overdue. Aruba had 76% of possession and 30 shots to Anguilla's 9, with 9 on target against 3. Their estimated expected goals of 3.35 compared with 0.38 for Anguilla, a gap of 2.97. Corners finished 9 to 4.
Justin Peterson, the Aruba midfielder, earned a match rating of 8.1 over 90 minutes, with 87 touches, 3 key passes and the winning goal. Alljereau Mercera matched that 8.1 rating in only 30 minutes, adding 2 key passes to his equaliser. For Anguilla, defender Nathaniel Owen scored and was rated 7.9 in 66 minutes, while goalkeeper Jelanie Lawrence made 7 saves, with a match rating of 6.4, to keep his side ahead for so long.
What it means
Aruba have now won both meetings between the sides, after a 2-0 victory away to Anguilla on 29 September, with an average of 3.5 goals across the two matches. Their recent run reads W-W-W-L-W-D-L-D-W-L, five wins from 10 at 1.7 points per match.
Anguilla came closer here than the numbers suggested they might, but their record over the same 10 matches is two wins and eight defeats, with 7 goals scored and 27 conceded. This was a result that matched the balance of play, even if it arrived only at the last.