Jesus Dueñas and Rodolfo Pizarro help Mexico beat Senegal 2-0

Mexico clinched their third victory under Juan Carlos Osorio in as many games to open 2016 with a win over Senegal at Marlins Park on Wednesday night.

Second half headers from Jesus Dueñas and Rodolfo Pizarro's helped seal a 2-0 win for El Tri, although it was a game that lacked emotion for large periods of the match.

Coach Juan Carlos Osorio's team is preparing for World Cup qualifiers against Canada in March, and he fielded a starting lineup with several veterans and Hirving Lozano making his Mexico debut.

With many of their stars playing in Europe, Senegal fielded a starting eleven full of youngsters, led by the impressive Cherif Salif Sane, who gave Mexico an early warning when his pass ended with Dame Gueye forcing Jose de Jesus Corona to a brilliant save.

The game, however, struggled to trigger any noteworthy highlights, and despite having possession of the ball, Mexico lacked the quality going forward and failed to threaten the Senegal goal.

In the 49th minute, a turgid start to second half was finally interrupted when Eduardo Herrera brought a fingertips save from Senegal goalkeeper Pape Ndiaye from a header.

Senegal's biggest chance of the second half fell to Ibrahima Diop when in the 62nd minute he caught the Mexicans napping on the break but wasted his effort wide.

In the context of the game, the miss proved crucial for Senegal, and after only seconds into his senior team debut, Candido Ramirez picked out Jesus Dueñas inside the box to give El Tri the lead. The midfielder was left unmarked and headed home from close range for the 1-0.

With the weight lifted, Mexico mounted forward and doubled their lead three minutes from time. Rodolfo Pizarro met Hirving Lozano's cross from the right, and the Pachuca midfielder sealed the victory for Juan Carlos Osorio's side.

Next, Mexico will travel to Vancouver, Canada on March 25 to take on the Canada national team in their third game of World Cup qualifying.