Inter Milan scored twice in the last 18 minutes to beat River Plate 2-0 on Wednesday and progress to the knockout stage of the Club World Cup as Group E winners and send the Argentines home.
Francesco Esposito scored UEFA Champions League finalists Inter’s first goal seven minutes after River had been reduced to 10 men by the dismissal of Lucas Martínez Quarta, and Alessandro Bastoni added the second in stoppage time.
The 19-year-old Esposito scored in just his second career appearance for Inter, having found the net 17 times on loan with Spezia in Serie B last season. Bastoni’s rare late foray into the opponent’s box assured Inter won the group on seven points.
The 20-times Italian champions will face Fluminese — one of four Brazilian clubs to advance to the round of 16 — next in Charlotte on Monday with Monterrey, who beat Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0, going through in second place a point ahead of River.
Martinez Quarta was shown the red card for bringing down Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the last defender with his teammate Gonzalo Montiel also dismissed for two yellow cards after a fracas in stoppage time.
Petar Sucic set up Esposito with an incisive run from the left and a well-timed pass into the box. Then Esposito also made a clever cut with the ball to elude two River defenders before finishing low past Franco Armani.
Before that point, Inter had already been supplying most of the pressure, with Lautaro Martínez narrowly failing to convert a pair of excellent chances.
In the 51st minute, he had Armani well beaten but saw his low strike from the edge of the penalty area strike the left post.
In the 55th, he was even closer to the goal after reaching Matteo Darmian‘s through ball, but this time drove his effort straight into Armani’s palms.
Inter’s increased pressure after halftime followed a first 45 minutes with few clear chances, while River had the only effort on target before the break when Franco Mastantuono’s long-range effort was easy work for Sommer.
For Inter, Esposito saw his shot in the box blocked in the 26th minute after being played into a dangerous area by Nicolò Barella‘s cross.
Information from Reuters was used in this recap.
