INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Defending champion Mexico overcame a slow start to defeat the Dominican Republic 3-2 on Saturday night in a Concacaf Gold Cup group stage match.

West Ham midfielder Edson Álvarez opened the scoring in the 44th minute, Fulham striker Raúl Jiménez added a goal in the 47th and defender César Montes got another one in the 53rd.

Jiménez now has 40 goals with the Mexican national team and is six away from Jared Borgetti, in second place on the career scoring list for El Tri. Javier “Chicharito” Hernández is Mexico’s top scorer with 52.

“It was a good win to start with. I congratulate my team, who maintained their emotional balance. It was a hard-fought, but fair victory,” said Mexico coach Javier Aguirre. “Our rival did a lot of merit, they demanded us, they did a good job.”

Mexico leads Group A with three points while the Dominican Republic is at the bottom. Costa Rica and Suriname, the other countries in the group, will face off on Sunday in Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.

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“We were patient, we scored three goals and it was an attractive match for the fans, although there are things that need to be corrected,” Aguirre added.

Peter González in the 51st minute and Edison Azcona in the 67th scored for the Dominicans, who earned their first qualification as one of the four group winners in League B of the Concacaf Nations League.

The match was played at SoFi stadium before 54,309 fans, most of them rooting for Mexico.

There was uncertainty on how many Mexican fans would attend the match. On Friday, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum urged U.S. officials not to target individuals attending the game.

Dozens of workers have been detained by federal immigration authorities in a series of raids in LA’s fashion district and at Home Depot parking lots in Southern California. More than 100 people have been detained.

Mexico will try to qualify for the next round Wednesday when they play Suriname while the Dominican Republic will play Costa Rica. Both matches will be played at AT&T stadium in Arlington, Texas.