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In similar fashion to their match against Canada, Mexico were largely unimpressive but did enough to win comfortably against Martinique on Sunday. Their disastrous first match against Panama means that they finish second in Group A and that they're likely to face a difficult quarterfinal, but they're through on six points after their 3-1 win.
Mexico were dominant in the opening minutes, but it took them until the 21st to net their opener. Rafael Marquez Lugo, who has had a poor tournament, should have buried the opener while one-on-one with Kevin Olimpa in the box, but put his shot right into the Martinique keeper. Unfortunately for the underdogs, it bounced to Marco Fabian, who scored his third goal in Gold Cup with a volley into the ground that bounced over Olimpa.
El Tri added a second through Luis Montes, who scored an absolute stunner to double his team's lead. From 30 yards, he struck a rocket that Olimpa had no chance to save.
Incredibly, that didn't completely seal the match for Mexico. Miguel Layun gave Martinique a way back into it just before halftime by taking down Steve Gustan in the box. Kevin Parsemain stepped up and buried a brilliant penalty, cutting Mexico's lead in half.
Unfortunately for Martinique, their opportunities to score would be few and far between in the second half. They struggled to create shots and didn't force Moises Muñoz into a save in the second 45. In the dying minutes of the match, Layun set up Miguel Ponce with a cross to the back post that was finished into an empty net.
Notes:
- Don't let the 3-1 score fool you, this was a bad match. One of the most boring four-goal matches I've ever seen. This whole tournament has been really poor. Hopefully the quarterfinals are a lot better.
- Miguel Layun looked very dangerous going forward, but his penalty was inexcusable. He can't play fullback in a back four against real teams. He'll get roasted. He's a terrible defensive player.
- Holy heck, Luis Montes! He's been extremely inconsistent for his entire career, so that was really cool to see. He was good against Canada and his goal was spectacular. Hopefully he's finally putting it all together.
- Chepo has a tough decision to make about his keeper. Muñoz didn't have a ton of work to do, but he might be better than Orozco.
- Rafael Marquez Lugo isn't good enough to play for this team.
- Mexico missed Jorge Enrique ... not at all. Because all Chaton does is pick the safest passing option every time.