Zimbabwe suffered their second defeat of the Women's Olympic Football Tournament as a blistering start propelled Canada to a 3-1 victory at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo on Saturday.
Having suffered a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Germany in their opening fixture, Mighty Warriors were aiming to bounce back with a strong performance against Canada in the second round.
However, Canada's well-oiled attack proved too potent to contain as they raced into a three-goal lead in the opening 35 minutes of play.
Janine Beckie fired home the opening goal after just seven minutes, shooting into the top-left corner after seeing her initial effort saved Chido Dringirai in the Zimbabwe goal.
Zimbabwe's first chance of note arrived in the 17th minute, however Marjory Nyaumwe was unable to find the mark with a speculative effort from outside the area.
Canada hit back just two minutes later, Christine Sinclair slotting home from the penalty spot after Dringirai had brought down Diana Matheson in the area.
And they continued to pile on the pressure, stretching further ahead in the 35th minute. Josée Bélanger was the architect, firing in a teasing cross towards the centre of the area, where Beckie was waiting to sweep the ball into the bottom-right corner.
They very nearly added a fourth just moments later, but Sinclair couldn't make clean contact with the ball as she headed over from Melissa Tancredi's cross.
Credit must go to Zimbabwe, though, as they produced a much-improved performance after the break, while Canada failed to show a cutting edge in front of goal.
Zimbabwe finally got the breakthrough they were looking for in the 83rd minute, Mavis Chirandu slotting the ball in the back of the net from the centre of the box.
Marjory Nyaumwe went agonisingly close to setting up a grandstand finish in injury time when she fired just inches wide of the left-hand post, but it was a case of too little, too late as Canada held on to claim their second win in Group F.
Canada come out on top against Zimbabwe #Rio2016
Zimbabwe suffered their second defeat of the Women's Olympic Football Tournament as a blistering start propelled Canada to a 3-1 victory at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo on Saturday.
Having suffered a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Germany in their opening fixture, Mighty Warriors were aiming to bounce back with a strong performance against Canada in the second round.
However, Canada's well-oiled attack proved too potent to contain as they raced into a three-goal lead in the opening 35 minutes of play.
Janine Beckie fired home the opening goal after just seven minutes, shooting into the top-left corner after seeing her initial effort saved Chido Dringirai in the Zimbabwe goal.
Zimbabwe's first chance of note arrived in the 17th minute, however Marjory Nyaumwe was unable to find the mark with a speculative effort from outside the area.
Canada hit back just two minutes later, Christine Sinclair slotting home from the penalty spot after Dringirai had brought down Diana Matheson in the area.
And they continued to pile on the pressure, stretching further ahead in the 35th minute. Josée Bélanger was the architect, firing in a teasing cross towards the centre of the area, where Beckie was waiting to sweep the ball into the bottom-right corner.
They very nearly added a fourth just moments later, but Sinclair couldn't make clean contact with the ball as she headed over from Melissa Tancredi's cross.
Credit must go to Zimbabwe, though, as they produced a much-improved performance after the break, while Canada failed to show a cutting edge in front of goal.
Zimbabwe finally got the breakthrough they were looking for in the 83rd minute, Mavis Chirandu slotting the ball in the back of the net from the centre of the box.
Marjory Nyaumwe went agonisingly close to setting up a grandstand finish in injury time when she fired just inches wide of the left-hand post, but it was a case of too little, too late as Canada held on to claim their second win in Group F.