Vinicius fires Real Madrid past Shakhtar Donetsk

Real Madrid made it three wins from three matches in the Champions League, with Vinicius' first half goal the difference in their 2-1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.

Los Blancos made the most of their dominance early on, netting twice before Oleksandr Zubkov halved the deficit for the away side just before half-time.

From there Madrid controlled proceedings as the Ukrainians proved unable to mount a serious threat after the break.

The result means Carlo Ancelotti's men now have one foot in the knockout phase with nine points after three matches, five clear of second-place Shakhtar.

Madrid needed just 13 minutes to open the scoring through Rodrygo. Aurelien Tchouameni's deflected pass eventually made its way to the Brazilian, who fired home his 11th goal in 30 Champions League appearances.

After Karim Benzema tested Anatoliy Trubin the Spanish side doubled their advantage minutes later after some exquisite passing.

The ball ended up at the feet of Vinicius, who calmly tucked home.

Real Madrid in control

With Real Madrid firmly in control of proceedings after further attempts by Vinicius and Benzema, Shakhtar fired back against the run of play.

Bohdan Mykhaylichenko's cross from the left found its way to Zubkov, who managed to guide the ball home with his shin to reopen proceedings.

Real Madrid began the second half like a team keen to put the match to bed as soon as possible, but Shakhtar managed to hold on after some early attempts by Eder Militao and Vinicius.

Trubin did well to keep Real Madrid at bay in the 64th minute. Rodrygo combined with Benzema, but the Frenchman's effort was expertly handled by the Shakhtar shot stopper.

From there Shakhtar failed to mount any serious threat on goal, allowing the home side to see out the remaining minutes with relative ease, thus keeping their perfect record in the Champions League intact.