Mexico 2-1 Russia: Hosts knocked out of Confederations Cup after defeat

Tournament hosts Russia were eliminated from the Confederations Cup after losing 2-1 to Mexico in their final Group A game on Saturday.

Russia broke the deadlock in the 25th minute through Aleksandr Samedov but Nestor Araujo headed Mexico level five minutes later.

Juan Carlos Osorio's side went 2-1 up seven minutes after the break thanks to Hirving Lozano's third international goal, before Russia had Yuri Zhirkov sent off for picking up a second booking in the 68th minute.

Mexico's victory sees them progress into the semi-finals alongside Portugal, who cruised to a 4-0 victory over New Zealand in the group's other fixture.

After a spell of early pressure, Russia took the lead when Samedov coolly slotted the ball beyond Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa from the right side of the box just moments after Fedor Smolov had hit the post.

Mexico were soon back on terms, though, with Araujo looping his close-range header over Igor Akinfeev in the 30th minute.

And Mexico went ahead shortly after the interval when Lozano beat Akinfeev to Hector Herrera's long up-field clearance before bravely heading into an empty net from the edge of the area.

Mexico thought they had extended their lead in the 60th minute but Hector Moreno's goal was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee after a review.

Things went from bad to worse for Russia 22 minutes from the end when Zhirkov was given his marching orders, and there was no way back for the hosts.