Mexico struggle to beat Martinique for group A lead
The Mexican national team had a tough game against Martinique, as the underdogs almost squeezed out a draw, which would have ended Mexico's perfect streak.
Mexico had one task against Martinique in its last group A match in Charlotte, North Carolina, and that was to finish first in its Gold Cup group to maintain the perfect streak they have been on since Gerardo Martino took charge of El Tri.
This match seemed an easy one for those led by 'Tata' Martino; however, Martinique wanted to do the impossible and get that miracle that would give them a quarter-final ticket, as they had done once back in 2002.
Martinique started the game with a defensive style of play, but before the first half ended, Uriel Antuna, the LA Galaxy striker, broke the lock that gave Mexico the 1-0 lead that they needed after Martinique had survived El Tri's pressure for most of the first 45 minutes.
The second half was a completely different scenario, despite Mexico's lead, as Martinique levelled the game thanks to Parsemain's splendid free-kick on the 55th minute. That put Mexico in trouble and desperate to score again. Antuna was in charge of most of Mexico's offensive attacking moves, but despite creating the plays, El Tri failed to score.
Raúl Jimenez put Mexico back in front just six minutes after Parsemain's goal, which brought some calm to the Mexican side. Navarro then increased the lead by scoring the third goal for Gerardo Martino's outfit, but just when everything seemed to be over for Martinique, Delem scored to cut Mexico's lead late in the game.
Mexico struggled in the last few minutes of the game with Martinique pressing to tie the game, but, in the end, El Tri got the victory to finish as leaders of Group A.