Winning on the road in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying is no easy feat, and Mexico had its hands full Tuesday night before ultimately walking away from Estadio Cuscatlan in El Salvador with a 2-1 victory.
Hector Moreno's 85th-minute goal gave Mexico the decisive edge, with the Espanyol centerback scoring off Edgar Andrade's free kick for the match-winner. Jesus Zavala opened the scoring after he was deemed onside for his 60th-minute finish, but the hosts leveled through Alfredo Pacheco, whose low free kick curled into the goal five minutes later to temporarily pull El Salvador even.
With the win, Mexico sits atop Group B with six points, while El Salvador has just one point from two matches.
Here are the other results from the second matchday of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying:
COSTA RICA 4, GUYANA 0
Alvaro Saborio is a man on a mission. The Real Salt Lake striker tallied a hat trick, as Costa Rica coasted by Guyana and into second place in Group B with the rout.
Saborio scored in the 20th, 26th and 52nd minutes to add to his tally from Costa Rica's group opener against El Salvador on Friday. Arsenal's Joel Campbell, who also scored Friday, finished off Guyana with his 77th-minute strike that sealed the three road points.
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 0, JAMAICA 0
The Benna Boys did the United States a favor, holding Jamaica to the scoreless draw and ensuring that the Americans would emerge from these first two matches in first place in Group A.
Both teams had chances to find the winner, none better than Luton Shelton's chance after the hour mark for Jamaica that hit the post. Jamaica trails the United States on goal differential in the group, and the back-to-back September matches between the two sides will determine plenty, with the Americans venturing to Kingston on Sept. 7 before returning to Columbus to host the Reggae Boyz on Sept. 11.
CANADA 0, HONDURAS 0
Given a chance to make some major headway to sealing a place in the hexagonal round, Canada could not deliver. Given a chance to make up for a disappointing home loss in its opener, Honduras could not come up with a tally either.
Instead the two sides played to a Group C stalemate at BMO Field, with Honduras securing its first qualifying point while Canada takes second place after the first two matches of group play but is left disappointed after having a number of chances to put Los Catrachos away.
PANAMA 1, CUBA 0
Nelson Barahona's 58th-minute goal was all Los Canaleros needed to improve to 2-0 in qualifying and rise to the top of the Group C table all alone after Canada was held to its draw.
After two matches, and no other qualifiers until September, here is how the group tables shake out:
GROUP A
1. United States (1-0-1, 4 points, +2 GD)
2. Jamaica (1-0-1, 4 points, +1 GD)
3. Guatemala (0-1-1, 1 point, -1 GD)
4. Antigua and Barbuda (0-1-1, 1 point, -2 GD)
GROUP B
1. Mexico (2-0-0, 6 points, +3 GD)
2. Costa Rica (1-0-1, 4 points, +4 GD)
3. El Salvador (0-1-1, 1 point, -1 GD)
4. Guyana (0-2-0, 0 points, -6 GD)
GROUP C
1. Panama (2-0-0, 6 points, +3 GD)
2. Canada (1-0-1, 4 points, +1 GD)
3. Honduras (0-1-1, 1 point, -2 GD)
4. Cuba (0-2-0, 0 points, -2 GD)
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What did you think of Tuesday's matches? Which teams have impressed you in qualifying so far? Which have disappointed?
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