#match-statistics

#match-statistics

Diego Simeone backed his Argentina forward to bounce back from his penalty miss last time out, and Alvarez did exactly that, scoring the winner with a thunderous strike from outside the box in the 88th minute. Alvarez scored his first early on, volleying home with his weaker left foot from Marcos Llorente's cross, but Vallecano fired back with an even better strike as Pep Chavarria fired a rocket from close to 30 yards out to beat Jan Oblak.

It was a worrying start for Alonso's side, with Carlos Alvarez going close for the hosts after just four minutes before Adrian de la Fuente missed a golden opportunity eight minutes later as his header went wide of the target. Madrid eventually kicked into gear and made a breakthrough in the 28th minute as Vinicius, who had reacted angrily to being substituted off in Madrid's previous game, curled the ball into the net with the outside of his boot, leaving Mathew Ryan helpless in the goal.

"I'm more than happy for the team and the staff. We had an excellent week from start to finish. We just proved what I saw every day in this camp. We played with a lot of intensity, it was teamwork in its purest form. From there, we showed our quality. We limited Serbia to no shots on target, you need to put in a lot of work and have intensity in the duels. We did this in all positions."

"Honestly, I couldn't ask for a better way to start," said Smith. "I think with the support of my team-mates, the staff, and the fans, it made it so much sweeter. So, it was a great, great game."

St. Pauli surged to the top of the early Bundesliga standings after a 2-0 away win at Hamburg in the first derby match between the two sides in Germany's top division since 2011. After a late fightback to earn a 3-3 draw with Borussia Dortmund on the opening day, Alexander Blessin's side overcame Hamburg, who saw Giorgi Gocholeishvili sent off.