Canada has been doing pretty well recently, since Stephen Hart took over as manager and they won their second-straight in Group A at the Gold Cup in front of about 7,000 fans in Columbus, Ohio on July 7th. Hart has been using the 4-3-3 formation and has found it works out well for him, especially with striker Ali Gerber banging in the goals on a regular basis. Hart has an overall record of nine wins, a draw and four losses with Canada. However, he’s 4-0 with four clean sheets since retaking the job in April.

Gerber netted another one last night as Canada edged El Salvador 1-0. Gerba sealed the win with the only goal in the 32nd minute while goalkeeper Greg Sutton posted his second-straight clean sheet in the tournament.

It was Gerba’s sixth career Gold Cup goal and he became Canada’s all-time leader ahead of Carlo Corazzin who had five, all in one tournament. It was also Gerba’s fourth-straight game with a goal for Canada, tying a 24-year old record set by Dale Mitchell in 1985. Gerba now has 15 career goals, good for fourth on the Canadian list.

“From the beginning we maintained a good shape,” said Canadian Atiba Hutchinson, who was also named Man of the Match. “We moved our feet well and we kept them in front of us, which was our main objective. We wanted to push up and stay tight on the ball. We had a lot of support all around us. I thought it was a great performance defensively.”

Hart said he thought his squad played better against El Salvador than they did against Jamaica in the opener. Canada created most of the chances in the first half, however they couldn’t seem to hit the target once they got in range.

But their luck changed in the 32nd minute, with Gerba’s second goal of the competition. Paul Stalteri crossed the ball into the box, and a poor clearance was headed right onto the foot of Canadian Patrice Bernier at the top of the box. Bernier’s bouncing shot was heading toward the net and then Gerba volleyed it in to make sure.

El Salvador had a couple of chances to tie it up before half time, especially in the 40th and 44th minutes, but El Salvador had the same problem as Canada did earlier on and they couldn’t hit the net.

They finally hit the net and forced Sutton to make a great save in the 54th minute on a long-range shot from about 30 yards out. Canada still created more chances in the second half though, but couldn’t add to the lead. Canada received two yellow cards, but it was another peaceful game with only nine fouls committed between the two teams.

Canada sits at the top of Group A with six point from two games. El Salvador and Costa Rica are next with three each while Jamaica sits in last with zero points. Jamaica was beaten 1-0 by Costa Rica in last night’s other Group A match. Costa Rica takes on Canada in Florida on July 10th and El Salvador meets Jamaica the same day. They are the last games of their group stage.