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VIDEO: SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Mexico won its third straight in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and moved within one victory of clinching a berth in the "hexagonal" final round with a 2-0 triumph over Costa Rica on Friday.
Carlos Salcido scored in the first half and Jesus Zavala added a second-half strike from a pair of Andres Guardado corner kicks, putting the Mexicans in position to progress with a win at Estadio Azteca against the Costa Ricans on Tuesday night.
The two sides exchanged chances in the opening stages as the stark contrast in formations - Costa Rica in its 5-3-2 alignment and Mexico with a revamped 4-4-2 setup - created space to exploit. Joel Campbell twice had opportunities in the first 25 minutes, but the visitors exerted their influence on the match as the first half progressed.
Mexico could have opened the scoring after 31 minutes when Javier Hernandez shot high from Oribe Peralta's knockdown, but it eventually went ahead two minutes before halftime.
Guardado supplied service toward the near post, where Francisco Rodriguez stooped to knock the ball back toward the penalty spot. Salcido tracked the flick and tucked his resulting shot just inside the far post.
The influential left winger provided another delivery to set up the second goal seven minutes after halftime. Zavala decided to direct an effort on goal instead of trying to supply a teammate as Rodriguez did in the first half. The shot found its way past Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas to reinforce the Mexicans' advantage.
Costa Rica attempted to reply as the second half progressed. Second-half substitute Randall Brenes posed most of the problems by heading wide moments after his introduction and slotting home from an offside position after 78 minutes. The disallowed effort marked the closest for the Costa Ricans, which remained winless at home in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.
Jose Luis Pinto's side remained second in Group A with four points, two points ahead of El Salvador, which was held to a 2-2 draw by Guyana in San Salvador.
