2 July 2018 10:07 pm
The Central Americans started on the front foot, with Hirving Lozano causing endless problems for Filipe Luis and Miranda while Carlos Vela helped to stretch the Brazilian defence.
However, as was the case against Germany, Mexico wasted chance after chance with West Ham striker Javier Hernandez - and his new peroxide-blonde hair - not getting into the box often enough when on the front foot.
The profligacy of Mexico allowed Neymar & Co. to settle in the sweltering heat of Samara, with only Standard Liege keeper Guillermo Ochoa keeping it scoreless at half time.
Ochoa, who has made more saves than any other keeper in Russia so far this summer, was helpless though when, having received the ball from a Neymar backheel, Chelsea’s Willian burst into the box before fizzing the ball back into the path of the world’s most expensive player to tap home.
With Brazil ahead, Mexico made changes, but their problems persisted. As they tired, Tite introduced his own backups, with Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino coming on late.
It took just minutes for the forward to make an impact as, after Neymar had sprung the offside trap of a weary defence, he squared for Firmino to tap home and put the game beyond all doubt.
Neymar will now look to strut his stuff against the winner of Belgium vs Japan, while Mexico head home from a World Cup at this stage for the seventh consecutive tournament. (standard.co.uk)