Mexico 2, Canada 0 | 2018 World Cup Qualifying Match Recap

Canada's road to the Hex got a little bit tougher after failing to get any points against Mexico during their home and home series. They'll have to try and get a result on the road against Honduras, who currently lead them on goal differential, in September. Second place in Group A will ultimately be decided on the final day. 

Mexico's first goal was set up as Marco Fabian was playing the ball across the penalty box where he was taken down by Doneil Henry. Andrés Guardado stepped up to take the penalty kick, and although Milan Borjan guessed correctly, the shot had too much pace and blasted right by him.

Borjan had to leave the match with a left hand injury just before halftime, asking to be taken out after a lengthy delay. The Canadian goalkeeper had made two key saves to keep them in the match. Kyriakos Stamatopoulos had to come in cold and let in a goal keep into first half stoppage time. Jesús Manuel Corona showed his skill coming up with a class finish to put Mexico up for good.

Three Things

1. ROUGH ROAD TO THE HEX -  Points are never easy to come by against Mexico, especially at the Azteca, but failing to score hurts the Canadian team in the goal differential department. Honduras managed a win and a draw, and now hold a three goal lead in the first tiebreaker with Mexico away in September.
2. IN LIKE FLYNN - Mexico are the first team to qualify for the Hex, with four straight victories in group play. While Honduras are 0-1-7 in World Cup Qualifiers all time on the road against Mexico, they'll get to face a Mexican which could use a more experimental roster with qualification wrapped up. 
3. TALE OF TWO HALVES - Stamatopoulos faced a tough task in trying to keep a pressing Mexico off the board through first-half stoppage, but after halftime his job was much simpler. He didn't have to make any saves as Mexico failed to direct a shot on target in the second half. 

TEAM RATINGS

Mexico

• José Corona
  Made a good save on a close-range shot in the first half. Wasn't called on too much after that.
• Paul Aguilar
  Had a good battle with Hoilett for much of the match, with neither player besting the other.
• N. Araújo
  Helped wrap up Larin and keep Canada's rare attacking forays at bay.
• M. Layún
  Stayed at home and did his job without being as adventurous as he was in Friday's contest between these sides.
• H. Moreno
  Didn't have too much to do in his 45 minutes of play.
• A. Guardado
  Converted the penalty in the first half to give the Mexicans the lead. He was his usual steady self for the duration.
• Jesús Corona
  Scored on a brilliant individual effort to end the first half and was threatening throughout.
• H. Herrera
  A solid hour of work from the midfielder.
• J. Molina
  His name wasn't called much, but he helped pressure the opposing midfield and keep the balance of play with the home side.
• M. Fabián
  Drew the penalty in the first half with a clever move to cut in front of Henry. He was very lively down the right side all night long.
• R. Jiménez
  He was largely invisible against a team that was bunkering. Came within inches of redirecting a well-placed cross into the Canadian goal, but other than that his night was forgettable.

Canada

• M. Borjan
  The goalkeeper was once again Canada's best defender until a hand injury forced him out of the game in the first half.
• D. Henry
  Was judged at fault for the penalty in the first half that led to the opener, although the call may have been harsh on the converted center back.
• D. Jaković
  As the elder statesman of the back line, he was called upon to clean up a few times.
• N. Ledgerwood
  Looked to push forward more than he usually does, and was wrongly shown a yellow card late in the match.
• J. de Guzmán
  The captain was mostly anonymous for his 57 minutes, but with Canada on the back foot for the entire game there was no other real option.
• M. de Jong
  Was far more involved in this match than he was in last week's reverse fixture.
• A. Hutchinson
  The focal point of the midfield. Mexico always played him close whenever he got the ball, but he was able to push forward on occasion.
• M. James
  An otherwise solid night was tarnished by his getting skinned on the Corona goal, plus his collision with Stamatopoulos that nearly led to another Mexican tally.
• W. Johnson
  The most active Canadian midfielder on the night, his hustle was welcome on a side looking to defend all over the field.
• J. Hoilett
  Tried to make something happen down the left flank a few times in the first half, although he couldn't break through.
• C. Larin
  Struggled to have an impact against the Mexican defenders.

Substitutes

• Y. Corona
  Battled with Larin in the second half and was equal to the task.
• J. Hernández
  Entered the match when it was already done and dusted.
• R. Pizarro
  Didn't have much influence on the match after coming on, but the Mexicans had already taken their feet off the gas at that point.

Substitutes

• K. Stamatopoulos
  A decent performance for the backup 'keeper coming in cold off the bench.
• S. Piette
  Subbed in for De Guzman and had an unspectacular, but solid, showing.
• T. Akindele
  The FC Dallas man was a late replacement for Junior Hoilett. He nearly got a cross onto the head of Ledgerwood in the dying minutes.