Vinicius shines off the bench as Real Madrid beat Oviedo 3-0

Overview

• Vinicius Junior shone with a goal and an assist.
• Real Madrid defeated Real Oviedo 3-0.
• Kylian Mbappé scored a brace.

Vinicius Junior shone with a goal and an assist as Real Madrid defeated Real Oviedo 3-0 in the ongoing La Liga season. Kylian Mbappé scored a brace while Vinicius netted the third goal in the dying minutes.

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Interestingly, after failing to deliver a strong performance against Osasuna in the season opener, Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso benched the Brazilian forward. He came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute for Rodrygo and lit up the game with a goal and an assist for Mbappé.

During the post-match press conference, Alonso said: "Vini did well when he came on, he was decisive in those two goals. We're happy with those players who started and those who came off the bench. There'll be a lot of games for everyone."

“We want people to feel important" - Alonso

On the decision to bench Vinicius, Alonso explained: "In football you take decisions thinking about the team, and today it was like that. Changes from game to game depend on what we need in terms of our play, the effort and the opponent.”

He added: “We want people to feel important and be prepared to start, or come off the bench, or be ready for the next game. Sometimes it's starting and being important, sometimes it's having a few minutes and being important, and Vinicius was today. That will be the story all year."

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After this win, Real Madrid now have six points from two league games. Alonso praised his side’s rhythm and overall display. "We had a good rhythm in the first half, we were dominant," he said. "Our rhythm was very good... In the second half, we dropped off a bit, Oviedo stepped up. But we won the ball in defence, and the last two goals gave us some calm. It was a very complete game, with a great attitude from the team."