All it took was six minutes for Mexico to go 1-0 down in the second half. And it was all thanks to Neymar’s brilliance and teamwork with Willian that Brazil scored a fantastic goal.
Willian and Neymar had struggled to make inroads into Mexico’s final third when they were out wide in the first half. So they did the next best thing. Cut in. Together.
After receiving the ball from Philippe Coutinho, Neymar made a lateral run with the ball (outside the box) and Mexico panicked. He dragged as many as five defenders out of position and this is where Willian made his run.
Although Coutinho was in a position to receive the ball and shoot, Neymar’s back-heel was picked up by Willian who had made his way to the left. One dribble was all he needed to get into the box.
This is where Mexico panicked again and lost sight of Neymar. As all eyes moved to Willian, Neymar sneaked in behind Gabriel Jesus and made his run. All Willian had to do was cross the ball in for the tap-in.
The second goal also saw him scamper forward on the counter-attack past Mexicans who had poured forward and his delightful stab of the ball eventually found its way to Roberto Firmino to make it 2-0.