With their manager, Juan Carlos Osorio, suspended and watching from the stands, Mexico put together a solid performance in San Diego on Sunday night. They scored the opening goal against El Salvador, and despite conceding an equalizer, went on to open their Gold Cup campaign with a 3-1 victory.
Mexico vs. El Salvador: Final score 3-1, El Tri starts 2017 Gold Cup strong
Despite a first-half hiccup, Mexico had little problem getting three points from their Gold Cup opener.
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Mexico started slow, with Rodolfo Zelaya testing José Corona with a shot on target in the second minute. But within the first 10 minutes, El Tri had the lead. Hedgardo Marín scored the opener, heading in a free kick by Elias Hernández that was perfectly floated to the back post.
El Salvador’s response was instant, and their lone goal of the match was an impressive one. Zelaya set it up with a through ball, and Nelson Bonilla made a perfect run before applying an impressive first-time finish:
For the next 10 minutes, El Salvador remained competitive. But around the 20 minute mark, Mexico started to take control of the match for good, and they regained the lead in the 29th minute. Jesús Gallardo set up the goal, playing a cross to the back post that Elias Hernández finished off by hitting a spectacular volley with perfect technique:
At halftime, Mexico took off Jorge Hernández, who had picked up a yellow card, replacing him with Orbelín Pineda. That proved to be an astute substitution — Pineda scored the clinching goal in the 55th minute.
Sadly, the biggest factor in the goal was the poor goalkeeping of Benji Villalobos. He badly misjudged a cross by Elias Hernández, letting it run past everyone in the box but Pineda. When the ball fell to the Mexican substitute, he had an easy finish. Pineda mishit his shot badly, but it didn’t matter:
Pineda was stretchered off the pitch with an injury five minutes later but was able to return. The same couldn’t be said for Villalobos, who added injury to previous insult by picking up a knock that he couldn’t recover from. Derby Carrillo replaced him, but Mexico was nice to the Salvadoran backup goalkeeper and didn’t give him too much work to do.
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