Bellingham on target as 10-men Real Madrid defeat Pachuca | OneFootball

Despite being a man down early in the game, Real Madrid defeated Pachuca 3-1 to give Xabi Alonso his first win in charge of the La Liga side.

The game started with a huge setback for the Spaniards. Just seven minutes in, Raúl Asencio was sent off with a straight red card for fouling Salomón Rondón just outside the box.

Pachuca tried to take advantage of their superior numbers. Kenedy, formerly of Chelsea, forced another ex-Blues man Thibaut Courtois into two good saves while Alan Bautista was also close to scoring. But just when things seemed to be tipping in favour of the Mexicans, the class of the European side prevailed.

Xabi Alonso adjusted the setup and switched to a 4-4-1 formation with Vini Jr. playing more freely up front. The reorganisation had an effect. Jude Bellingham found himself in a scoring position and coolly opened the scoring at the 35-minute mark.

Just before the break, Real Madrid extended their lead when youngster Gonzalo García found Arda Güler classily, who finished for the 2-0.

The second half saw the Mexican side attack more but it was the 10-men of Real who scored the next goal

With 70 minutes gone Brahim Díaz's cross found Fede Valverde to put the result beyond any doubt.

Pachuca did manage to grab a consolation goal. Elias Montiel, which occurred thanks to an unfortunate deflection by Aurélien Tchouaméni.

With four points accumulated, Real Madrid will face Red Bull Salzburg in the last round of the group stage with good chances of securing passage to the round of 16. Meanwhile, Pachuca is eliminated from the competition without securing any points.