Xabi Alonso’s first victory as Madrid manager came with Federico Valverde’s sliding goal in the 70th minute.
Following a heartfelt 1-1 draw against Al Hilal in Wednesday’s opener and Raul Asencio’s early dismissal on Sunday, his team’s FIFA Club World Cup campaign is now back on track.
With a win or draw against RB Salzburg on Thursday in Philadelphia, Real Madrid will be able to place in the last 16. Later on Sunday in Washington, D.C., Al Hilal will play Salzburg.
Elias Montiel’s deflected effort in the 80th minute gave Pachuca a consolation goal, but Thibault Courtois did little to help the victors save 10 saves.
Despite leading their Spanish opponents 25-8 overall and 11-3 in attempts on target, the Mexican side was defeated.
However, their opponents had more quality in their attacks than they did in Pachuca’s 2-1 loss to Salzburg on Wednesday.
Asencio was immediately dismissed in the seventh minute for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity after Salomon Rondon was hauled down just beyond the penalty area by Ramon Abatti, who had no hesitation in doing so.
However, the Spaniards took the lead for the majority of the opening 15 minutes before the Spaniards took the final 15 to a 2-0 lead.
Fran Garcia was quickly freed in the 35th when Gonzalo Garcia’s quick flick-on was released. The latter then picked up Carlos Moreno’s late run, who slid his low finish past him from 15 yards, with a square ball from Bellingham.
On another flowing Madrid move, this time with Gonzalo Garcia providing the final square pass following Trent Alexander-Arnold’s first-touch cross, Guler provided the finishing touch from inside the area in the 43rd.
After the break, Pachuca continued to exert pressure, with John Kennedy’s 61st-minute strike well past his left post and Bryan Gonzalez’s early-second-half effort being forced over the bar.
However, Real Madrid held on for an impressive win thanks to Valverde’s well-taken goal, which almost ended the game.
After the game, Bellingham, who was named the player of the match, applauded the team spirit.
After receiving the red card, “we stayed well together.” Raul [Asencio] erred, of course. He told DAZN, “He is young and it will happen.”
“It was amazing to see how the team worked together and won the game.”
Courtois received praise, according to Alonso.
After the game, he told DAZN, “We are so happy to have [Courtois] in goal.”
When we only had one player, he was extremely trustworthy. We prepared our chances by sacrificing a lot of sacrifices while we defended.
Source: Aljazeera
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