Raúl Jiménez scored a goal and assisted on another to lead Mexico to a 2-0 friendly win over the United States on Tuesday night in Guadalajara, Mexico.

César Huerta also scored for Mexico, who snapped a seven-match winless run (0-5-2) against the United States dating from 2019 and handed new US manager Mauricio Pochettino his first defeat in his second game in charge.

Andrés Guardado, Mexico’s all-time leader, received his 182nd and final cap. The 38-year-old Guadalajara native was subbed off in the 19th minute to an emotional ovation from fans in the city where his professional career began with Atlas.

With several American players absent – ​​including Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah and Folarin Balogun – the US trailed 17-5 overall and 5-1 in shots on goal. With Pulisic in the fold, the Americans defeated Panama 2-0 on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

It was the third time the Americans have failed to score this year, following a 1-0 friendly defeat to Slovenia in January and a 1-0 defeat in the final Copa América match against Uruguay on July 1.

Jiménez was once considered a crucial player for Mexico, as Pulisic is for the US. However, his 35th international goal on Tuesday was the 33-year-old’s first for his country in more than a year after falling out of favor under previous manager Jaime. Lozano.

The opening goal came in the 22nd minute after the US started promisingly despite goalkeeper Luis Malagón not being tested.

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As Antonee Robinson tried to tackle the ball from Roberto Alvarado of Mexico, Aidan Morris of the United States was whistled for a foul a few meters outside the penalty area.

Jiménez shot the ensuing free kick perfectly, bending it over the American defensive wall into the top right corner, just past goalkeeper Matt Turner’s dive.

This began a period of Mexican domination that extended into the remainder of the first half and into the second half.

Jiménez was involved again El Tri scored a deserved second goal in the 49th minute.

American defender Tim Ream initially recovered well and cleared the ball from Jiménez after running onto an excellent diagonal ball. However, as Ream tried to play out of his own hand on the dribble, Jiménez continued to chase and tackled the ball away.

He dropped into a good position for Huerta, who evaded the challenge of another American defender and fired a low shot between the diving Turner and the left post.

The US posted its all-time record in games vs. El Tri in Mexico falling to 1-24-4.

This report uses information from Reuters.