10-man Real Madrid beat Pachuca 3-1

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina:

Jude Bellingham and Arda Guler scored first-half goals and short-handed Real Madrid bounced back from a disappointing performance in their Club World Cup opener to beat Pachuca 3-1 yesterday in front of 70,248 spectators at Bank of America Stadium.

Seven minutes in, defender Raul Asencio received a red card, forcing Real Madrid to play the remainder of the match with 10 men.

It hardly mattered as Madrid dominated the Mexican club the rest of the way to give Xabi Alonso his first win as coach of the Spanish powerhouse.

Bellingham got Madrid on the board in the 35th minute when he took a pass from Fran Garcia just inside the box and belted a perfectly placed left-footed shot past goalkeeper Carlos Moreno into the right corner.

Eight minutes later, Guler made it 2-0 when he delivered a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner off an assist from Gonzalo Garcia. Federico Valverde put the final touches on the win in the second half with a sliding right-footed shot off an assist from Brahim Diaz.

Goalkeeper Thabaut Courtois was on form with five saves in the first half. He turned away two point-blank shots in the early going and finished with 10 saves.

Elias Montiel ended Courtois' bid for a shutout when he scored in the 80th minute for Pachuca, which fell to 0-2 in group play.

Kylian Mbappe has missed both Club World Cup starts after being hospitalised with acute gastroenteritis. He did not travel to Charlotte, but the team remains hopeful that he'll be ready to play on Thursday night against Salzburg.

- AP