Carlos Salcido scored in the 60th minute, and Oswaldo Sanchez made five saves to give Mexico a 1-0 win against Panama in a hotly contested CONCACAF Gold Cup Group C game Wednesday night at Reliant Stadium in front of 68,417 fans.
With the win, Mexico clinched second in Group C and will move on to face Costa Rica in the next round. With the loss, Panama dropped to third place in Group C and will travel to Boston to face the United States. Honduras, who defeated Cuba earlier in the evening 5-0, will face Guadeloupe.
Mexico opened the contest with a couple of chances to score. In the second minute, Pavel Pardo headed a ball that Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo batted over the goal. Two corners followed for Mexico, but Penedo knocked each away from the goal. Panama came back in the sixth minute with a scoring chance, but Jose Luis Garces' header went wide.
Four minutes later, Felipe Baloy's diving header attempt off a corner kick hit the post. The last 35 minutes of the half saw five yellow cards issued.
Alberto Medina of Mexico and Blas Perez of Panama were each booked in the 22nd minute, and Pardo was issued a yellow in the 25th minute. Panama's Rolando Escobar was booked in the 28th minute, while his teammate Gabriel Gomez was given a yellow card in the 43rd minute.
In the 26th minute, Gerardo Torrado's shot attempt went right, and two minutes later, Nery Castillo's shot from the middle of the box hit the post. Mexico was relentless in attack, as a shot by Jose Andres Guardado in the 32nd minute from the left rolled right of Penedo.
Panama had two final attacks in the first half. Victor Herrera fired a shot well wide from the left side in the 39th minute, and in stoppage time, a cross by Carlos Rivera bounced right in front of the goal but ended up going out past the far post.
Panama started the second half with a shot by Perez on a short breakaway from inside the box that went wide right. Mexico quickly countered, but Torrado's shot from the left side went high over the goal.
In the 53rd minute, Panama just missed a goal on a free kick when Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez made a fine save. Panama played down a man for two minutes as Luis Moreno was carted off the field, but he quickly returned.
Mexico struck in the 60th minute off a corner kick when Salcido headed it past Penedo. Panama appeared to have retaliated in following minute, but Perez's rebound follow was negated due to offsides.
Moments later, Pardo's direct kick went over the goal for Mexico. Panama almost tied the score in 64th minute, but Escobar's shot from the right side went wide.
Panama had two corner attempts in the 68th minute. On the first, Baloy tried kicking the ball just inside the upper post but Torrado was there to head the ball out. Sanchez came out of goal to stop the second corner and put an end to that Panama threat. Baloy had another attempt on a free kick in the 70th minute, but his shot outside the box dribbled right into Sanchez's waiting hands.
Panama failed on two more scoring chances in the 75th minute when Ricardo Phillips' shot hit the post. Baloy had another shot, but his bullet from the left side of the box was saved by a diving Sanchez.
Playing down a man following Escobar's second yellow card, Panama just missed knotting the score in the 86th minute as Phillips' shot from the left was saved by Sanchez.
The rough play continued into the second half as five yellow cards and two red cards were issued. Mexico's Jared Borgetti was issued a yellow in the 62nd minute. In the 76th minute, Panama's Penedo and Mexico's Castillo were each issued yellows. Four minutes later, Escobar picked up his second yellow, resulting in a red card and an ejection.
Three minutes after Escobar's ejection, Roman Torres of Panama was issued a red card and ejected as well. Mexico's Jose Francisco Fonseca was booked in the 90th minute, and Salcido was issued a yellow in stoppage time.
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
