Alexis Vega goal ensures Mexico stays on track in Concacaf Gold Cup title defense

New York Times

14 hours ago

Mexico benefitted from Alexis Vega's quick reactions and a fortuitous late own goal to remain on track to defend its Concacaf Gold Cup title with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Having topped its qualifying group Javier Aguirre's Mexico was rarely troubled in its quarterfinal in Glendale, Ariz., taking the lead through Vega just after halftime and effectively sealing the contest with just under 10 minutes left.
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After Marcel Ruiz was frustrated when his effort struck the bar following the interval, Vega eased any lingering nerves for the critical opening goal. The Toluca forward ran to collect a neat through ball from Raul Jimenez and had his first effort parried by Saudi keeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi, but smartly clipped the rebound into the net. An offside flag was proven to be ill-founded by video review, and Mexico was on its way to victory.
Vega celebrated his strike with a tribute to teammate Luis Chavez, who sustained an ACL tear in training during the week. Chavez's absence led to a debut for Gilberto Mora, who became Mexico's youngest ever men's national team player at 16 years and 219 days.
On 81 minutes, Santi Gimenez's efforts to reach a Mateo Chavez cross confused Saudi defender Abdullah Madu, who could only deflect the ball past Al-Aqidi and into his own net.
Mexico will now take on Honduras, who survived a nerve-wracking penalty shootout to outlast Panama and claim a spot in Wednesday's semifinal at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
On the other side of the bracket, the United States takes on Costa Rica in the quarters on Sunday, just after Canada's meeting with Guatemala.
Mexico's result, and its performance, will have come as a relief to Aguirre, after his team had some stumbles in group action, struggling at times against the Dominican Republic and Suriname and finding a 0-0 draw with Costa Rica sufficient to advance in first place.