Xabi Alonso hailed Vinicius Junior after the Brazilian marked his return to the Real Madrid line-up with a sensational goal in Saturday’s 2-1 comeback win over Mallorca.
Vedat Muriqi’s early header stunned the Santiago Bernabeu, but Madrid responded with two goals in the space of a minute – first from Arda Guler and then from Vinicius – to seal a third straight victory of the season heading into the international break.
It was Vinicius’ second goal in as many games, having also scored off the bench against Real Oviedo last weekend.
“[Vinicius] performed well,” Alonso said afterwards. “It was a better game for him than against Osasuna [on Aug. 19] and it was an important goal to put us in front. I’m happy with Vini’s game, he’s scoring goals and that’s important.”
Madrid could have added further gloss to the scoreline, but three goals were chalked off by VAR – two for Kylian Mbappe due to offside and one for Guler after an involuntary handball.
“The fourth official said the handball had to be ‘immediate’ [to be disallowed] and after that then it depends on the referee’s interpretation,” Alonso explained. “It would have been important to get the third goal. It’s his interpretation, that’s his role.”
Despite those frustrations, Alonso was satisfied with his team’s early progress.
“I’d like to keep going, and have the players here,” he said. “But we knew in these three games, after a mini pre-season, it was important to compete, to keep improving things, defining the path we want.
“Now we have the break and then the next block of games, including the Champions League. But the start has been good. There are some good things, and some things to correct.”
Madrid return to action on September 13, away at Real Sociedad.
