Giovani dos Santos captains El Tri in Mexico’s win over Panama

It took until the second half, but Oribe Peralta scored a tidy goal to lift Mexico over Panama at Toyota Park in Frisco, Texas. The 1-0 victory was El Tri’s final friendly before their clash with the USMNT to begin Hex play on November, 11th, in Columbus, Ohio.

Giovani dos Santos provided the assist to Oribe Peralta’s goal; his 24th for the national team since 2005.

Not much happened in the opening 45 minutes of action as the two sides combined for just one shot on target — from a Giovani dos Santos left-footed effort aimed at the bottom left corner.

In the 59th minute, Hirving Lozano danced through the midfield before he found space on the left side of the pitch. Lozano found dos Santos down on the left flank. The cross that dos Santos was simply out of this world. He sent the delivery first-time, evading two Panama defenders, before putting it on a plate for Peralta.

Three minutes after the halftime interval, Panama had their first attempt on target. Abdiel Arroyo’s weak attempt from outside of the area was saved comfortably by Moisés Muñoz.

Hirving Lozano and Armando Cooper exchanged a couple of chances late in the game, but no other goals were scored.

Mexico looked better once Lozano entered the fray in the second half, and deserved their victory.