Real Madrid shrugged off an early red card to defeat Mexico's Pachuca 3-1 and take a big step towards the knockout stage of the Club World Cup.

The result leaves Madrid, under new head coach Xabi Alonso, on top of Group H with four points while Pachuca are eliminated after two defeats.

Saudi club Al Hilal, who split the points with Real in the opener, lost a chance to move to second after being held by Salzburg later on Sunday.

Real were in trouble after just seven minutes when Raul Sencio was shown a straight red card after he pulled down Salomon Rondon with the Venezuelan clear on goal.

That left the Liga MX team sensing the chance for an upset in front of 70,248 fans at the home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers.

Pachuca quickly went close when Brazilian Kenedy saw a shot parried out by Thibaut Courtois and the Belgian keeper did brilliantly to deny Alan Bautista's follow up shot.

But Real were able to get a grip on the game in midfield and slow the pace down, and t was a superbly worked team goal that provided the breakthrough for them in the 35th minute.

Gonzalo Garcia's clever flick released Fran Garcia down the left and he looked inside to Jude Bellingham who took the ball in his stride and then buried a left-foot shot into the corner.

They doubled their advantage two minutes before the break, when Trent Alexander-Arnold drilled a low cross in from the right and Arda Guler collected Gonzalo's deft lay-off and fired home.

Javier Eduardo Lopez missed the best opportunity for the Mexican side in the second half, and the outcome was put beyond doubt in the 70th minute when Federico Valverde slid the ball home after a smart exchange with Brahim Diaz.

Pachuca finally got some reward for their determined effort when Elias Montiel's shot on the turn was deflected off Aurelien Tchouameni and flew past the wrong-footed Courtois. (AFP)