At the same time as the meeting between New Zealand and Portugal took place, there was a confrontation between Mexico and Russia. All four of these national teams played in the Confederations Cup Group A.
Before the match, Mexico held the first place, but the Russians, who were in third position, were only one point behind them, so the representatives of North America could not reach the semi-finals of the tournament.
As the match began, the Mexicans started controlling the ball from the very first minutes, but supported by their own fans, the Russian footballers were preparing dangerous counterattacks.
Yuri Zhirkov took a dangerous shot next to the goal in the 13th minute, and after a few more attacks, the referee had to use video review, as Fedor Smolov fell in the penalty area.
The penalty was not awarded, but Smolov rattled the crossbar in the middle of the first half, and a moment later, his team-mate Alexander Samedov accurately sent the ball into the goal.
Then the attacks of the Mexican national team became more active, one of which eventually reached its target, when defender Nestor Araujo scored a header from deep in the box.
But the action did not end there, as immediately on the other side of the pitch, Alexander Yerokhin hit the crossbar, and several attacks were launched until the end of the half. However, no more goals were scored before halftime.
In the second half, the desperate Russians seeking victory started actively and tried to press their opponents, and in the 48th minute, Alexander Samedov scored a goal. However, a minor offside was detected.
Fortune smiled on the Mexican team once again a few minutes later, when the Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev made a major mistake, which Hirving Lozano took advantage of.
The missed second goal gave the Russians even more motivation to push forward, but Hector Moreno marked his presence on the other side of the pitch with a dangerous shot. In order to record the offside in this episode, video review was required.
In response to the Russian pressure, the Mexicans tried to respond in the same way, but it did not bring much benefit. Ultimately, in the middle of the half, Yuri Zhirkov was removed from the field for an elbow strike, and the end of the match became clear.
Igor Smolnikov failed to score from a few meters in front of the goal, but Mexico calmly finished the match and added three points to their account.
However, after these matches, they lost the first place in the group, as Portugal defeated New Zealand with a score of 4-0.
Result:
Mexico 2 - 1 Russia
[0-1] 25' Alexander Samedov
[1-1] 30' Nestor Araujo
[2-1] 52' Hirving Lozano
Congrats Portugal & Mexico! Both into the #ConfedCup semi-finals, Portugal finish top of Group A #MEXRUS #NZLPOR pic.twitter.com/aENX0SPUCq — #ConfedCup (@FIFAcom) June 24, 2017
The #MEXRUS #BUDMOTM, as voted for by the fans, is @miseleccionmx's @HirvingLozano70! pic.twitter.com/c4Pv6UEZP6 — #ConfedCup (@FIFAcom) June 24, 2017
