Canada kept their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Gold Cup alive, scraping a 1-0 win against 10-man Guadeloupe at the Raymond James Stadium.

Guadeloupe were forced to play almost the entire match a man down after Jean-Luc Lambourde was sent off with a straight red card for a wild challenge on Canada midfielder Will Johnson in the third minute.

Canada striker Ali Gerba had an effort disallowed for offside but despite the numerical disadvantage, Guadeloupe competed well and went close in the 29th minute when the lively Brice Jovial went on a winding run and set up Thery Racon whose shot was well saved by Canada keeper Milan Borjan.

The sides were scoreless at the break but Guadeloupe's intent was felt within a minute of the restart when Racon forced Borjan into action again with a sweetly struck effort from the edge of the area.

Canada finally got their breakthrough in the 51st minute when Stephane Zubar was judged, perhaps harshly, to have pulled down Gerba in the area and Dwayne De Rosario converted from the spot.

Simeon Jackson went close to a second with a superb effort from 30 metres which Franck Grandel did well to push wide.

There were some ugly scenes at the end of an occasionally bad-tempered game with players confronting each other at the final whistle.

The three points were vital for Canada after their opening game defeat to the United States and coach Stephen Hart said his team had been rewarded for their patience and praised Guadeloupe's resilience.

"They remained very, very organised for a team down to 10 men, they proved themselves hard to break down and the longer the game went on, they were still in the game. We didn't take our chances but then we got the penalty," he said.

"We didn't want to change what we had set out to do - we just had to be patient, it was very, very hot, we wanted to make them run, keep the ball moving and let them do the bulk of the work - wait for a goal and see what happens.

Guadeloupe head coach Roger Salnot said the red card had changed the game for his team.

"It was always going to be difficult when we were down to 10 men so early and obviously that made us change our strategy for the game," he said.

Canada face Panama in their final game while Guadeloupe, bottom of Group C with two defeats are up against the United States.

Reuters