US stays alive with 4-1 win over New Zealand in Olympic men's soccer. Ukraine beats Morocco

MARSEILLE, France — Djordje Mihailovic converted a penalty as the United States pounced early in a 4-1 victory over New Zealand on Saturday to stave off possible elimination at the Olympics.

A loss in Marseille could have ended the Americans’ chance to advance to the knockout round. The U.S. had lost to France in its Group A opener.

Mihailovic calmly hit the penalty in the eighth minute after Nathan Harriel was brought down in the box by Matthew Garbett.

Four minutes later, senior player Walker Zimmerman, a defender, made it 2-0 when he poked in a goal in a scramble in front of the net following a free kick.

“It’s kind of do-or-die time,” Zimmerman said. “We knew it would come down to the start that we would have, and to get an early goal just was huge. Kind of gave us confidence to really get into the tournament.”

Gianluca Busio scored on a rebound at the half-hour mark and celebrated by dancing with teammate Kevin Paredes. Busio later left the game with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, but he said it was just a precaution.

Paxton Aaronson added a fourth goal for the United States in the 58th, and New Zealand avoided the shutout with Jesse Randall’s late goal.

“For me, the most important thing is that we get there,” U.S. coach Marko Mitrovic said. “In some games, everything goes on your side. Sometimes it just goes the other way. The game against France was a game of inches, and today we were good at the first two opportunities. … When you get in a game with 2-0 at the very beginning it’s obvious it’s a much easier game after that.”

Ukraine 2, Morocco 1

There was no reprieve for Morocco this time.

After the chaos and violence that marred the end of its 2-1 win over Argentina in the Olympic men’s soccer tournament, Morocco conceded late again against Ukraine on Saturday, and this time the goal stood.

On Wednesday, Morocco fans rushed the field and threw bottles in protest when Cristian Medina appeared to score an equalizer in the 16th minute of stoppage time for Argentina — causing the game to be suspended for around two hours. That goal was later disallowed by VAR for offside.

But there was no sign of a repeat of those scenes when Ihor Krasnopir scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for 10-man Ukraine at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Argentina 3, Iraq 1

While Iraq threatened to pull off another surprise when Aymen Hussein leveled the score 1-1 in first-half stoppage time, goals from Luciano Gondou and Ignacio Fernandez sealed victory for Argentina.

Thiago Almada, who Argentina coach Javier Mascherano said had a watch stolen when the team’s training base was robbed earlier this week, opened the scoring with a volley in the 14th at Stade de Lyon.

Gondou’s far-post header in the 62nd restored Argentina’s lead after Hussein’s goal, and Fernandez curled in a long-range shot from the edge of the box in the 85th.

Spain 3, Dominican Rep. 1

Spain reached the quarterfinals with a 3-1 win over the Dominican Republic in Bordeaux.

Goals from Fermín Lopez, Alex Baena and Miguel Gutierrez made it two wins from two for Spain in Group C.

Lopez scored in the 24th, but Angel Montes de Oca evened the score in the 38th.

The Dominican Republic’s Edison Azcona was sent off before halftime. Baena restored Spain’s lead in the 55th and Gutierrez sealed the win in the 70th.

Egypt 1, Uzbekistan 0

Ahmed Koka scored in the 11th minute and Egypt beat Uzbekistan to move a step closer to the knockout phase.

Egypt is in second place in Group C, behind Spain, which it plays plays Tuesday.

Paraguay 4, Israel 2

Marcelo Fernandez scored twice, and Paraguay pulled away from Israel with two late goals in a Group D match.

Fernandez scored his first in the 25th minute for Paraguay, which had lost 5-0 in its opener against Japan. Israel pulled even on Omri Gandelman’s goal early in the second half.

Julio Enciso scored in the 69th to put Paraguay back in front until Oscar Gloukh’s equalizer in the 80th.

Fabian Balbuena scored three minutes into stoppage time to pull Paraguay in front.