How it happened
Naqwan Henry scored twice in a 65-minute appearance, and his goals proved decisive as US Virgin Islands beat Bahamas 3-2 at Bethlehem Soccer Stadium, Christiansted, in League C, Group C of the CONCACAF Nations League. His match rating of 8.4 was the highest on the pitch.
Henry opened the scoring on 30 minutes, and the lead doubled five minutes later when O. Chemaly turned the ball into his own net. The visitors' afternoon then grew harder: R. Joseph was sent off on 45 minutes, leaving US Virgin Islands 2-0 up at half-time but down to ten men.
Henry restored the two-goal cushion on 52 minutes. Bahamas responded through W. Bayles on 58 minutes, and P. Julmis converted a penalty in the second minute of stoppage time, but the comeback ran out of road.
The numbers
Bahamas dominated the ball and the shot count. They had 62% of possession, 27 shots to 8 and 11 corners to 3, and their estimated expected goals of 2.86 dwarfed the visitors' 1.1. Yet only four of those 27 attempts were on target, against six for US Virgin Islands.
William Bayles was Bahamas' standout, earning a match rating of 8.3 with a goal, three key passes and 62 touches over 90 minutes. For the visitors, defender Quinn Farrell finished with a match rating of 7.4, one key pass and 63 touches. Bahamas goalkeeper Ian Lowe made four saves and received a match rating of 5.6.
What it means
The result extends a difficult run for Bahamas, whose recent record reads ten defeats in ten matches, with 7 goals scored and 46 conceded. US Virgin Islands' last ten read W-L-W-W-L-L-L-L-D-D, three wins and 1.1 points per match.
It was the second meeting between the sides in under a week: US Virgin Islands also won 3-1 on 29 September. Across four recorded meetings, US Virgin Islands have two wins, Bahamas one, with one draw, and the fixtures have averaged 4.75 goals.