Francesco Pio Esposito scored in the 72nd minute and Alessandro Bastoni added an insurance goal in stoppage time to lead Inter Milan to a 2-0 win over River Plate on Wednesday night and into the second round of the Club World Cup.
Esposito's goal came just six minutes after River Plate's Lucas Martínez Quarta was shown a red card after taking out the legs of Henrikh Mkhitaryan on a breakaway and preventing a clean shot on goal.
Just two minutes before the red card, River Plate came close to taking the lead when Manuel Lanzini found Facundo Colidio in the box with a cross, but Inter Milan goalkeeper Yann Sommer made the save.
Bastoni's goal in front of more than 45,000 fans came on a left-footed shot from outside the box in the 93rd minute.
Inter Milan finished atop Group E with seven points, two more than Monterrey, which finished second in the group following a 4-0 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds on Wednesday night. River Plate finished in third with four points and Urawa Red Diamonds finished in last, going 0-3.
Key Moment
Esposito, a 19-year-old striker, notched his first career goal for Inter Milan after assisting on the squad's winning goal in a 2-1 victory against Urawa Red Diamonds on Saturday.
Takeaways
Inter Milan plays Fluminense - one of four Brazilian clubs to advance to the round of 16 - on Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Monterrey plays Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday 1 at Atlanta.
What They Said
"Well, it was a very intense game. Very well balanced, especially in the half time, but then we were playing better. For sure it was a great team, great fans and I respect all of them," Esposito through a translator.
"I'm happy because he played a great game and joined a very difficult and real game and was up to the challenge," Inter Milan manager Cristian Chivu said through a translator.
Monterrey advance to knockout rounds at the Club World Cup with 4-0 victory over Urawa
Monterrey scored three goals in a 10-minute span of the first half and went on to defeat the Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0 on Wednesday night and advance to the knockout rounds in the Club World Cup.
Monterrey finished second in Group E behind Inter Milan, which defeated River Plate 2-0 in a simultaneous game in Seattle. Monterrey plays Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday at Atlanta in the round of 16.
The match drew just 14,312 to the 89,702-capacity Rose Bowl.
Nelson Deossa ripped the ball from 35 yards out that Urawa goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa got a hand on but couldn't stop in the 30th minute to put Monterrey up 1-0.
After a cooling break, Germán Berterame tucked the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to make it 2-0. Jesús Corona added another goal from distance that lofted up and dropped into the goal in the 39th.
Berterame added a second goal in stoppage time.
The Red Diamonds had been eliminated after losses to River Plate and Inter Milan.
Liga MX's Monterrey was scrappy from the start. Alphonso Alvarado had a header in the opening minutes that hit the crossbar.
Key Moment
Sergio Ramos had scored the only goal for Monterrey in its first two matches before the team unleashed their three goals in the first half, sending the throngs of Rayados fans at the Rose Bowl into a frenzy. Monterrey, which started the day in third in the standings, needed to score because goals mattered in the group standings.
Takeaways
With a commanding lead, Monterrey eased up in the waning minutes out of caution because four players were handed yellow cards in the previous match against River Plate. If any of the four were carded again, they would be unavailable for the round of 16 match.
What They Said
"We do not know how we are going to improve on this, but each of us felt lessons and learned lessons individually. So I think we can use this going forward," - Urawa captain Takahiro Sekine through a translator.
"We got a win, that is what we were looking for. There was a lot of sacrifice in the match. It was a tough start, from the very first match until now, they were all tough. So we did grind our teeth and go for it," - Berterame, selected man of the match.