Mexico played out a 1-1 draw with Peru in New Jersey as their wait for a first victory under Rafael Marquez continued.
Mexico 1-1 Peru: Marquez's men play out second straight draw
Victor Guzman cancelled out Jairo Velez's opening goal as Mexico and Peru drew 1-1 in an international friendly on Tuesday.
Three days on from another 1-1 draw with Colombia in Baltimore, El Tri had to fight back to avoid defeat at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Former Barcelona defender Marquez made wholesale changes to the team that started his first game in charge, handing chances to several young players. One of them – striker Isaias Violante – had a back-post header blocked behind from Mexico's first real attack in the 24th minute.
But Peru went in front only two minutes later, as Victor Guzman and Jeremy Marquez both failed to deal with a long kick forward from goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, allowing Jairo Velez to scamper into the box and bend his finish into the far corner.
Gallese did well to claw a header from his own centre-back Renzo Garces away from the bottom-left corner, but the Peru goalkeeper was picking the ball out of his net four minutes into the second half, when Guzman met Denzell Garcia's free-kick with a bullet header.
Orbelin Pineda's volley dipped wide just past the hour mark, but neither team created a clear-cut chance to win the game, with Peru's best opportunity seeing Oscar Garcia thwart Alex Valera immediately after the Mexico goalkeeper gifted possession to Jhonny Vidales.
Marquez still waiting on first win
Mexico's first two games under Marquez have both been tight affairs, and though they will argue they were the better team versus Colombia, having 16 shots to their opponents' five and winning the expected goals (xG) battle by 1.17 to 0.6, they were flat on Tuesday.
El Tri had nine attempts, three of which hit the target, with a total xG value of 0.45. Peru, meanwhile, had five shots, hitting the target twice while amassing just 0.29 xG.
The teams combined for a mere 15 touches in each other's areas (eight for Mexico, seven for Peru), with Mexico lacking penetration in a game that saw them post a 64% possession share and tally 56 final-third entries to their opponents' 37.
Mexico have two more chances to get the Marquez era up and running during this extended international break, as they face the United States and Chile in Los Angeles, with a CONCACAF Nations League tie to come in November.
