U.S. beats Jamaica to reach CONCACAF semi-finals

(Reuters) - The United States scored twice in the second half to beat a 10-man Jamaica squad 2-0 on Sunday and advance to the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Jermaine Jones broke the deadlock when he scored four minutes into the second half after his shot took a deflection off Jamaican defender Jermaine Taylor, giving goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts no chance of making the save.

Jamaica, which did not concede a goal in the pool stages, were reduced to 10-men when Taylor was red-carded for tripping Jones as he was bearing down on goal.

American striker Clint Dempsey, who only rejoined the team the morning after attending his sister's wedding in Texas, put the result beyond doubt in the 80th minute, side-stepping the advancing Ricketts and tapping the ball into an open net after a low cross from Juan Agudelo.

The U.S. have now reached the semi-finals in each of the last six editions of the tournament for North and Central America and Caribbean teams and will play the winner of Sunday's last quarter-final Panama and El Salvador.